Adults’ Perceptions of Law-Involved Minority Children and Youth

This chapter reviews the role of race and ethnicity in shaping legal actors’ (e.g., police officers, attorneys, judges, jurors, parole officers) perceptions and judgments of youth victims and offenders. The intention of this review is to provide researchers with a comprehensive synthesis of the literature and to help front-line workers understand how race influences their interactions with racial minority youth. The chapter begins by considering racism in the criminal justice system generally and the research showing how race shapes perceptions of adult offenders and victims. The main focus is a review of research illustrating parallel findings in cases involving youthful offenders and victims. The chapter ends with recommendations for future research, as well as practical applications to improve law and public policy and to assist legal actors during their interactions with racial minority youth.