Racial Minority Youths’ Perceptions of the Justice System

Both explicit and implicit racial biases shape police and civilian perceptions of and responses to adolescent offending. In turn, Black youths’ contemporary and historical personal and vicarious experiences with racism and policing shape their perceptions of and responses to the police. Although youth of all races generally exhibit the same developmental trajectories of cognitive and psychosocial capacities, minority youth are treated more harshly than their peers. This chapter highlights the attitudes, expectations, and experiences that youth and law enforcement bring to a shared encounter and examines how they play out in the interaction itself. The chapter also discusses the implications for justice policies and practices and for training. Reform should focus on school-based police presence and enhanced police training that involves youth. Research should foreground multiple methodologies using an intersectionality lens. Only when racial minority youth experience fair treatment and outcomes within the legal system will their attitudes toward it improve.