Native American Youth In The Juvenile Justice System

11/29/2017 The Quiet Crisis in Native American Juvenile Justice
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The Quiet Crisis in Native American Juvenile Justice
By Robert Winters, JD, Professor, School of Criminal Justice, Kaplan University
Published: 06/23/2014
There is a crisis facing the criminal justice system serving Native
American youth. The general public has no idea of the challenges
facing this group, but when President Barack Obama convened the
White House Tribal Nations Conference in November 2013, one of
the four major topics on the agenda was violent crime.
Statistics highlight the magnitude of the problem. Although they
represent 1% of the U.S. population, Native American juveniles
represent 2% to 3% of youth arrests in categories such as theft and
alcohol possession. Similarly, they are committed to adult
incarceration at a rate 1.84 times that of whites and are placed under
the jurisdiction of the criminal justice system at a rate 2.4 times that
of whites. In four states with substantial Native American
populations, they represent from 29% to 42% of juveniles held in
secure confinement. The alcohol-related death rate among Native
American youth stands at 17 times the national rate. Their suicide
rate is triple the national average among males aged 15 to 24. Their high school dropout rate is the highest of any racial group. While at
first glance these numbers are bad enough, what makes them even harsher is the fact that the Native American population is a relatively
young one: according to the Indian Health Service, in 2008 the median age of the Native American population was 28.0 years versus 35.3
years for the U.S. population as a whole. This means these issues impact a relatively larger portion of the total Native American
population.
A look at Native American demographics paints a picture of the source of these sobering numbers. The Native American poverty rate is
the country’s second highest at 21% in 2004, behind only to African-Americans at 23% and nearly triple the 8% rate among whites. The
high school dropout rate in 2006 was half again the national average at 29.1% compared to 19.6%. Conversely, the baccalaureate degree
completion rate is less than half the national rate: 11.5% versus 24.4%. Finally, Native Americans are most likely to suffer from crime,
with victimization rates higher than any other U.S. racial group: in 2002 among youth 12 to 17, the rates were 45 per 1,000 for Asians, 95
for whites, and 97 for African-Americans, but 145 among Native Americans. Experts believe that 200,000 Native Americans under age
19 suffer “serious emotional disturbances”—a rate of 10%.
Native Americans entering the criminal justice system tend to be treated with disparate severity. Research that assesses the rates at which
Native Americans are handled at various stages using the rate for white juveniles as 1 (with a reading under 1 indicating a lower
frequency and above 1 a higher frequency) reveals that while the relative arrest rate for Native Americans is 1.0, referrals resulting from
those arrests occur at a rate of 1.3. Diversion to alternative programs occurs at a rate of only 0.9, while detentions occur at a rate of 1.1.
Adjudications occur at a rate of 1.1, but while probation is granted at a rate of 0.9, placement per adjudication occurs at a rate of 1.5, as
do waivers to adult courts. Amazingly, 79% of all youth in Bureau of Prisons custody are Native American, though this number is
distorted somewhat by FBI jurisdiction over Indian Country that places offenders directly into the federal system.
Incarcerated Native American youth also seem to receive disproportionately harsh treatment, including the use of pepper spray, restraints,
and isolation. A 2003 lawsuit against a South Dakota training school alleged overuse of the lockdown unit for Native Americans, and one
female plaintiff who had spent nearly two years there claimed to have been placed in four-point restraints on a cement slab for hours at a
time on multiple occasions.
There are multiple and interrelated causes of these significant gaps in the system. Research by the National Indian Child Welfare
Association shows that Native American youth are frequently placed in adult facilities—despite statutes prohibiting contact between
adult and minor inmates in a correctional facility—because many of their communities lack dedicated juvenile facilities. This early
exposure to a harsh prison environment can result from minor offenses such as truancy or from situations that would not normally
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