Introduction. Franklin E. Zimring and David S. Tanenhaus

Have Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Juvenile Justice Declined Over Time? An Empirical Assessment of the DMC Mandate

“…As such, reforms to decriminalize status offenses seem to have disproportionately benefited White youth while actually increasing the overrepresentation of Black youth. Zimring (2014) points out that reforms aimed at reducing overall youth contact with the justice system can have unanticipated effects in terms of proportional representation.…”

“…Reform efforts can prioritize reducing the proportion of minorities in the system or reducing overall harm to youth in the system. Zimring (2014) provocatively suggests that by focusing too much on “equalizing disadvantage” (p. 173), we may lose sight of the larger goal to have less system contact with all youth. While reducing relative disparities has proven elusive, juvenile justice reforms to date have reduced overall contact with youth.…”

“…But in absolute terms, the rates of confinement in the criminal justice system are three times higher. Again, Zimring (2014) observes,The major positive reforms in juvenile justice over the past generation…have not had dramatic impact on the disproportionate involvement of minority youth in the deep end of the juvenile system. But the lower levels of incarceration embraced by juvenile courts mean that the harms suffered within juvenile courts by all sorts of youth are much smaller than the harms imposed on young offenders in America’s criminal courts.…”