The present study investigated whether race moderates the effect of age on juvenile court dispositions in ways that illuminate a subtler form of racial disparities than has been previously identified. Drawing on prior theory and research, we hypothesize that at young ages, virtually all youth are perceived as children and met with treatment-oriented responses. As youth grow older, however, we anticipate that Black defendants will be perceived as more culpable and more deserving of punishment than similarly-aged White defendants and that disposition patterns will reflect that differential perception. Using data from the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (N = 124,075), the present study examines a five-category disposition using a multinomial regression model with interactions between age and race variables. We found mixed support for the hypotheses. On the one hand, compared to similarly-aged White defendants, Black defendants became significantly less likely to be diverted—the most treatment-oriented disposition—and significantly more likely to be transferred—the most punitive disposition—as age increased. On the other hand, race did not moderate age effects for dismissal, probation, or commitment. There is thus some evidence that age may be racialized for some dispositions, but not others. Implications for research and policy are discussed.

本研究调查了种族是否以一种比以前确定的更微妙的种族差异形式来减轻年龄对少年法庭处置的影响。借鉴先前的理论和研究，我们假设在年轻的时候，几乎所有的年轻人都被视为儿童，并遇到了以治疗为导向的反应。然而，随着年轻人年龄的增长，我们预计黑人被告将被视为比同龄的白人被告更有罪，更应该受到惩罚，而性格模式将反映这种不同的看法。使用佛罗里达州少年司法部的数据 ( N = 124,075)，本研究使用具有年龄和种族变量之间相互作用的多项回归模型来检查五类倾向。我们发现对这些假设的支持不一。一方面，与年龄相仿的白人被告相比，黑人被告被转移的可能性显着降低——这是最以治疗为导向的性格——而且随着年龄的增长，被转移的可能性显着增加——这是最具惩罚性的性格。另一方面，种族并没有缓和解雇、缓刑或承诺的年龄效应。因此，有一些证据表明，年龄可能会因某些性格而被种族化，但其他性格则不然。讨论了对研究和政策的影响。