Racial Threat Hypothesis and Hispanic and Black Juvenile Over-Representation

• In Event: Racial Disparities in Treatment of Youth

Abstract

The role that the racial threat hypothesis plays in disproportionate minority contact (DMC) is examined for both black and Hispanic juveniles. As Hispanic juvenile populations increase in the United States, the opportunity for examining the racial threat hypothesis, with regard to juvenile minority overrepresentation in juvenile detention centers, is becoming more vital. Both Hispanic and black overrepresentation in juvenile detention placements is compared to better understand the theoretical implications of the racial threat hypothesis. Disparities between minority and white juvenile representation is examined in order to better understand the relationship between the racial threat hypothesis and juvenile minority overrepresentation in non-home placements. Implications for the racial threat hypothesis in better understanding juvenile minority overrepresentation and limitations are discussed.

Author

• Dustin Eicke, Texas State University