Race and Record: A Study of Juvenile Referrals in Alaska

Abstract

The disproportionate representation of minorities in the justice system of the U.S. has been viewed with growing alarm by both researchers and policymakers. Studies of the problem tend to focus on African Americans and on the end points of the process — sentencing disparities and, especially, sentences to death at the adult level and on court outcomes and detention decisions at the juvenile level. The research presented here explores the relationship between race and prior record using juvenile referral data from Alaska. White, Alaska Native, and African American youth are compared using four years of statewide data. The research includes an in-depth examination of the files of a sample of the juveniles referred to the Alaska juvenile justice system in order to better assess the relationship between race and record.