A Critical Examination of "Being Black" in the Juvenile Justice System

The current study examined the role of race in juvenile court outcomes across 3 decision-making stages. This analysis was conducted with a random sample of all delinquent referrals in a Northeast state from January 2000 through December 2010 (N = 68,188). 

In addition to traditional logistic regression analysis, a propensity score matching (PSM) approach was utilized to create comparable samples of Black and White youth and provide a more rigorous methodological test of the relationship between race and juvenile court processing. Results indicated that even after the use of PSM techniques, race was still found to influence the likelihood of intake (OR = 1.54; 95% C.I. = 1.48-1.62, p < .001), adjudication (OR = 0.80; 95% C.I. = 0.76-0.84, p < .001), and disposition (OR = 1.64; 95% C.I. = 1.54-1.76, p < .001) outcomes. 

The findings show that Black youth received disadvantaged court outcomes at 2 of the 3 stages, even after balancing both groups on a number of confounders. Black youth were treated harsher at intake and judicial disposition, but received leniency at adjudication compared with similarly situated Whites. 

These relationships were the most evident at the stage of judicial disposition. The findings impact both researchers' and policymakers' strategies to more fully understand the complex relationship between race and social control. 

They also reaffirm the noticeable role that selection bias can play in the research surrounding race differences in juvenile court outcomes, and highlight the importance of utilizing a more stringent statistical model to control for selection bias. 

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By:  Peck JH, Jennings WG.

Law Hum Behav. 2016 Feb 1.

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"Teached: The Path to Prison" - Exposing Education Gap for Black and Latino Youths

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Contextual Predictors of Injection Drug Use among Black Adolescents and Adults in US Metropolitan Areas, 1993-2007

OBJECTIVES:

We sought to determine whether contextual factors shape injection drug use among Black adolescents and adults.

METHODS:

For this longitudinal study of 95 US metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), we drew annual MSA-specific estimates of the prevalence of injection drug use (IDU) among Black adolescents and adults in 1993 through 2007 from 3 surveillance databases. We used existing administrative data to measure MSA-level socioeconomic status; criminal justice activities; expenditures on social welfare, health, and policing; and histories of Black uprisings (1960-1969) and urban renewal funding (1949-1974). We regressed Black IDU prevalence on these predictors by using hierarchical linear models.

RESULTS:

Black IDU prevalence was lower in MSAs with declining Black high-school dropout rates, a history of Black uprisings, higher percentages of Black residents, and, in MSAs where 1992 White income was high, higher 1992 Black income. Incarceration rates were unrelated.

CONCLUSIONS:

Contextual factors shape patterns of drug use among Black individuals. Structural interventions, especially those that improve Black socioeconomic security and political strength, may help reduce IDU among Black adolescents and adults. 

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By:   Cooper HL1, West B1, Linton S1, Hunter-Jones J1, Zlotorzynska M1, Stall R1, Wolfe ME1, Williams L1, Hall HI1, Cleland C1, Tempalski B1, Friedman SR1.

1Hannah L. F. Cooper, Sabriya Linton, Josalin Hunter-Jones, Maria Zlotorzynska, and Mary E. Wolfe are with the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA. Brooke West is with the Division of Global Public Health, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla. Leslie Williams, Barbara Tempalski, and Samuel R. Friedman are with National Development and Research Institutes Inc, New York, NY. Ron Stall is with the Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences and Department of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA. H. Irene Hall is with the HIV Incidence and Case Surveillance Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta. Charles Cleland is at the School of Nursing, New York University, New York, NY.

 

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Adolescents and Parental Caregivers as Lay Health Advisers in a Community-Based Risk Reduction Intervention for Youth: Baseline Data from Teach One, Reach One

The purpose of the current study is to describe the demographic, behavioral, and psychosocial characteristics of adolescent and caregiver lay health advisers (LHAs) participating in an intervention designed to reduce risk behaviors among rural African-American adolescents. Teach One, Reach One integrates constructs from the Theory of Planned Behavior and Social Cognitive Theory. It acknowledges that changing the sexual behaviors of African-American adolescents requires changing one's knowledge, attitudes, normative beliefs about the behavior of peers, and self-efficacy regarding adolescent sexual behavior, parent-teen communication about sex, and healthy dating relations among adolescents. 

Study participants completed baseline questionnaires assessing demographics and psychosocial determinants (knowledge, attitudes, perceived social norms, and self-efficacy) of sexual behaviors. Sixty-two adolescent and caregiver dyads participated. Caregivers included biological parents, legal guardians, or other parental figures. Strengths and areas in need of improvement were determined using median splits. Few adolescents had initiated sex. 

Their strengths included high levels of open parent-teen communication; positive attitudes and normative beliefs regarding both sex communication and healthy dating relationships; and high knowledge and self-efficacy for healthy dating behaviors. Areas needing improvement included low knowledge, unfavorable attitudes, poor normative beliefs, and low self-efficacy regarding condom use. 

Caregiver strengths included positive attitudes, normative beliefs, and self-efficacy for sex communication; positive attitudes and self-efficacy for condom use; and low acceptance of couple violence. Areas needing improvement included low levels of actual communication about sex and low knowledge about effective communication strategies and condom use. 

The current study highlights the value of assessing baseline characteristics of LHAs prior to intervention implementation, as it enables a better understanding of the key characteristics necessary for planning and implementing interventions, as well as engaging in targeted training activities.

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By:  Ritchwood TD1,2, Dave G3, Carthron DL4, Isler MR5, Blumenthal C6, Wynn M7, Odulana A2, Lin FC8, Akers AY9, Corbie-Smith G3,6.

• 1 Department of Public Health Sciences , Medical University of South Carolina , Charleston , SC , USA.
• 2 Department of Pediatrics , Medical University of South Carolina , Charleston , SC , USA.
• 3 NC TraCS Institute , University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , Chapel Hill , NC , USA.
• 4 School of Nursing , University of North Carolina at Greensboro , Greensboro , NC , USA.
• 5 Office of Wellness , Wake Forest University , Winston-Salem , NC , USA.
• 6 Department of Social Medicine, Center for Health Equity Research (CHER) , University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , Chapel Hill , NC , USA.
• 7 Project Momentum , Inc, Rocky Mount , NC , USA.
• 8 Department of Biostatistics, Gillings School of Global Public Health , University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , Chapel Hill , NC , USA.
• 9 The Craig Dalsimer Division of Adolescent Medicine , The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia , Philadelphia , PA , USA.

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Perceived Racial, Sexual Identity, and Homeless Status-Related Discrimination among Black Adolescents and Young Adults Experiencing Homelessness: Relations with Depressive Symptoms and Suicidality

There is a dearth of empirical evidence that addresses how racial minority, sexual minority, and homeless statuses, with their accompanying experiences of stigma and discrimination, are related to mental health in adolescent and young adult populations. 

The current study addresses this gap by examining the associations between multiple forms of discrimination, depressive symptoms, and suicidality in a sample of 89 Black adolescents and young adults (52% female; 47% nonheterosexual, ages 16-24) experiencing homelessness. 

Results from a series of ordinary least squares and logistic regressions suggested that perceived homelessness stigma and racial discrimination were associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms, controlling for gender, age, and other types of discrimination, while perceived sexual identity discrimination showed no association. 

Having ever spent a homeless night on the street, an indicator of homelessness severity, accounted for a substantial amount of the association between homelessness stigma and depressive symptoms. In contrast, suicidality was not significantly associated with any measure of discrimination, homelessness severity, or personal characteristics. 

We also found no indication that the associations between perceived discrimination targeted at racial and homelessness statuses and mental health differed by sexual minority status. 

Our results suggest that depressive symptoms and suicidality are prevalent among Black homeless youth, and that depressive symptoms are particularly associated with racial discrimination and indicators of homelessness. 

The roles of discrimination and a lack of safe housing may be taken into account when designing programs and policies that address the mental health of Black adolescents and young adults experiencing homelessness. 

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By: Gattis MN, Larson A.

  

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