Latina/o youths’ discrimination experiences in the U.S. Southwest: Estimates from three studies

Abstract

Despite growing awareness of the negative effects of ethnic-racial discrimination, we know a minimal amount about the frequency of these experiences among Latina/o youth. Utilizing three independent studies, we examined estimates of general discrimination and police discrimination among Latino/a youth living in the U.S. Southwest (total N = 1,066; ages 12–21 years old). Ethnic-racial discrimination experiences differed by adolescent gender; for girls, 47% reported discrimination at age 12; highest estimates were at age 17 (70%) and 18 years old (68%). Boys reported greater general discrimination than girls did during early and late adolescence; the highest estimates were observed at ages 19, 20, and 21 years old (94, 86, and 87%, respectively). Gender differences also emerged with police discrimination; boys reported being hassled by a police officer more often than girls did at every age. Findings suggest that most Latino adolescents experience discrimination, and Latino/a boys are particularly vulnerable.

Acknowledgment

We are grateful to the families and youth who participated in the Juntos, Identity, and MAMI projects. We thank the project undergraduate and graduate students, research assistants, and research staff for their assistance is conducting this investigation.

This work was completed, in part, while Adriana Umaña-Taylor was a visiting research professor at Universidad de San Buenaventura in Medellín, Colombia.

Additional information

Funding

Funding was provided by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development grants R01-HD39666 (Updegraff, PI), R01-HD32336 (Ann C. Crouter & Susan M. McHale, Co-PIs), and R01-HD061376 (Umaña-Taylor, PI); the Department of Health and Human Services grant APRPA-006011 (Umaña-Taylor, PI); and the Cowden Fund to the T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics at ASU.