Are We Giving Them a Fair Chance? Racial Stereotypes and the Juvenile Justice System

Author

Cali K. Bloem, Bridgewater State UniversityFollow
Ashley A. Hansen-Brown, Bridgewater State UniversityFollow

Volume

28

Number

1

Department

Dept. of Psychology

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Date

2022

Abstract

Prior research indicates that there are racial disparities throughout the criminal justice system and that decision-makers may use stereotypes when determining guilt and deciding on sentences for juveniles. This study looked at sentence disparities between White and Latinx juveniles, as well as potential stereotypes that could be used in decision-making. There were no differences in sentence length and severity between the White and Latinx offender. Additionally, the likelihood of the offender receiving a lesser or greater sentence as an adult did not differ among conditions. Our results also showed that participants with prior juror experience used less stereotypical language in their sentence explanations. This research highlights the presence of sentence disparities in prior studies and generates avenues for future research.

Keyword

bias; juvenile justice system; race; sentence disparity; stereotypes

Discipline

Psychology

Document Type

article

DCMI Type

Text

Language

English

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Recommended Citation

Bloem, Cali K. and Hansen-Brown, Ashley A. (2022) "Are We Giving Them a Fair Chance? Racial Stereotypes and the Juvenile Justice System," Modern Psychological Studies: Vol. 28: No. 1, Article 11.
Available at: https://scholar.utc.edu/mps/vol28/iss1/11