The disproportionate processing of minorities in the justice system has been noted with growing concern nationally as well as at the state level. In Alaska, as in other states, the primary basis for concern is that minorities are overrepresented among the adult prison population. The realization that this disproportionality appears in other justice system venues has led nationally to a number of research initiatives with a focus on the overrepresentation of juveniles. This paper analyzes referral data from the Alaska Division of Family and Youth Services (DFYS) for 1992–1995 to provide a statistical overview of disproportionate minority contact in the Alaska juvenile justice system, providing comparative data for referrals of Alaska Native, African American, and white youth.

This paper is a based on the report Disproportionate Representation of Minorities in the Alaska Juvenile Justice System: Phase I Report by N.E. Schafer, Richard W. Curtis, and Cassie Atwell (Anchorage, AK: Justice Center, University of Alaska Anchorage, Sep 1997).