During the 1980's, the use of custody as a sentence for juvenile offenders fell by almost 80 percent. For young adult offenders between 17 and 20 years of age, the use of custodial sentences increased during the early 1980's to a high of 26,500 in 1985 before falling to 14,500 in 1990, a reduction of 45 percent. These significant overall reductions in custodial sentencing levels benefited black young people in the sense that fewer black juvenile and young adult offenders received such sentences in 1990 than in previous years. However, black young offenders benefited less than their white counterparts from the general trend away from custodial sentences for this age group. The result was a disproportionately high percentage of black youth in young offender institutions and remand establishments. It remains to be seen whether various provisions of the 1991 Criminal Justice Act, which deal with custodial sentencing and antidiscrimination measures, will lead to a significant reduction in the over-representation of black young people in custody. 3 tables