Juvenile perpetrators of race/ethnicity-based bias crimes

Abstract

Most bias crime literature focuses on adults despite the fact that youth account for a large proportion of prejudice-motivated violence. The LA County Commission on Human Relations data for all bias crimes from 2002-2008 was used to examine similarities and differences between adult and youth suspects of bias-motivated crimes. Findings showed youth victims of racial bias crimes were 12 times more likely to be targeted by youth suspects and over five times more likely to commit property offenses. Public places were nearly three times more likely than resident places to be the location of the bias crime by youth suspects. Female perpetrators of racial bias crimes were two times more likely to be youths. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Keywords:

• Race bias crimes
• youth offender
• youth bias crimes
• juvenile delinquency

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Meripa T. Godinet

Meripa T. Godinet is an Associate Professor at the University of Hawaii Myron B. Thompson School of Social Work. Her scholarship includes disproportionality of Pacific Islanders in the juvenile justice and child welfare systems; risk and protective factors among PI adolescents; and advancing cross cultural resonance in social work practice.

Rebecca Stotzer

Rebecca L. Stotzer is a Professor and the Director of Distance Education at the University of Hawaii Myron B. Thompson School of Social Work. Her primary areas of research are in discrimination, prejudice-motivated crime, stigma, and issues impacting the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities.