U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Understanding the Link Between Race/Ethnicity, Drug Offending, and Juvenile Court Outcomes

NCJ Number
253874
Journal
Crime & Delinquency Volume: 63 Issue: 14 Dated: 2018 Pages: 1807-1837
Author(s)
Michael J. Leiber; Jennifer H. Peck; Melissa Lugo; Donna M. Bishop
Date Published
July 2017
Length
7 pages
Annotation
Applying base premises from Steen, Engen, and Gainey's perspective concerning the dangerous drug offender stereotype, the current study examined the case outcomes of White, Black, and Hispanic youth charged with drug offenses and who match the stereotype of a "dangerous drug offender" (male drug seller with a prior record).
Abstract
Compared with criminal sentencing decisions, limited research has assessed the impact of an imagery of a "dangerous" offender on the interrelationships between race/ethnicity and juvenile court outcomes. The findings of the current study suggest that youth who fully matched the stereotype were more likely to receive harsher dispositions compared with those who have some or none of the characteristics, but the magnitude of these effects for Whites did not exceed those of Blacks and Hispanics. (Publisher abstract modified)