African-American Youth in The Juvenile Justice System

Gase, one of the study’s authors, conducted this research as part of her dissertation
while a doctoral student at UCLA.
The study, “Understanding Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Arrest: The Role of
Individual, Home, School, and Community Characteristics,” uses data from the National
Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) and examines a range of
factors at the individual, home, school, and community level and its effect on youth
arrest. This includes characteristics such as delinquent behavior, parent education,
school size, and community unemployment.
The results suggest racial disparities in youth arrests cannot be explained by
differences in individual delinquent behavior. What they found is that contextual factors
play a major role in these racial differences, and the primary driver is the racial make-up
of a neighborhood.
In the United States, residential segregation and housing discrimination have largely
contributed to the current racial composition of neighborhoods. In a major city like Los
Angeles, black people were historically barred from living in predominately white
neighborhoods and relegated to parts of South Los Angeles such as South Central and
Watts, according to Eric Avila, author of Popular Culture in the Age of White Flight: Fear
and Fantasy in Suburban Los Angeles.
The findings raise concerns that policing policies may differ based on the racial
composition of the neighborhood. In 2015, an investigation by the Chicago Tribune
revealed Chicago’s police department administered DUI checkpoints almost exclusively
in black and Latino neighborhoods. Policing practices such as these disproportionately
target minority groups and potentially contribute to these racial disparities.
In order to address these racial differences, Gase believes there must be policy and
system changes, but the work needs to be localized. This includes bringing people
together and creating a space for meaningful dialogue among key stakeholders such as
community members and policy makers, according to Gase.
On January 24 of this year, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors passed a
resolution to “advance a comprehensive, coordinated and expanded approach to youth
diversion across Los Angeles County, with a goal of minimizing youth contact with the
juvenile or criminal justice system.” This integrated approach calls for community-based
groups, school districts, and local police departments among others to work together to
keep young people out of the juvenile justice system
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