The present study examines whether racial and ethnic disparities in juvenile justice declined significantly in a state that has made substantial reform efforts in compliance with the Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) mandate. Using a sample of all referrals in Connecticut with final disposition in 2000 (N = 18,458) or 2010 (N = 12,265), the study employed multilevel modeling with cross-level interactions to assess whether disparities changed over time for five outcomes: detention, petition, adjudication, commitment, and waiver to criminal court. Findings indicated that Black-White disparities in detention decreased over time, while Black-White disparities increased for petition, adjudication, and waiver. Findings also indicated that Hispanic-White disparities increased for adjudication (while not changing for other outcomes). The limited success of the DMC mandate may be explained by implementation failure or theory failure. Adjudicating between these alternative explanations is needed to guide future reform efforts. Several implications for research and policy are discussed, including whether reform efforts should focus on overall harm reduction rather than proportional representation.

本研究调查了在已经按照不成比例的少数民族接触（DMC）要求进行了实质性改革的状态下，青少年司法中的种族和族裔差异是否显着下降。使用康涅狄格州所有转诊的样本，最终处置是在2000年（N = 18,458）或2010年（N = 12,265），该研究采用了多层次建模和跨层次互动，以评估五种结果（拘留，请愿）之间的差异是否随时间变化，判决，承诺并向刑事法院豁免。调查结果表明，随着时间的推移，在拘留中的黑白差距有所减少，而在请愿，裁决和豁免方面，黑白差距有所增加。研究结果还表明，西班牙裔白人之间的差异在审判中有所增加（而其他结局则没有改变）。DMC任务的有限成功可能是由实现失败或理论失败引起的。需要在这些替代解释之间做出判断，以指导未来的改革努力。讨论了对研究和政策的一些影响，包括改革努力是否应侧重于总体减少危害而不是比例代表制。