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38 American J. Crim. Just. 1 (2013)

handle is hein.journals/acnjrlocm38 and id is 1 raw text is: Am J Crim Just (2013) 38:1-12 DOI 10.1007/s12103-012-9162-6 Race and Juvenile Incarceration: A Propensity Score Matching Examination George E. Higgins • Melissa L. Ricketts• James D. Griffith • Stephanie A. Jirard Received: 4 January 2012 /Accepted: 1 March 2012 / Published online: 16 March 2012 © Southern Criminal Justice Association 2012 Abstract Disproportionate minority contact is an important issue in contemporary juvenile justice. Few studies have directly examined the link between race and judicial decision to incarceration. Using official data from Pennsylvania (n= 41,561), this study added to this literature in two ways. This study used propensity score matching to obtain a purer estimate of the influence race has on the decision to petition a case to juvenile court. The results indicated that prosecutors use perceptual shorthand in making this decision that hinges on race. Specifically, blacks were more 1.28 times more likely than whites to have their case petitioned to juvenile court. Keywords Disproportionate minority contact - Propensity score matching . Race- Incarceration Conflict theorists have noted that blacks are more likely than whites to be subjected to harsher punishments (Blalock, 1967; Chambliss, 1995; Quinney, 1970). The theorists argued that blacks are subjected to harsher punishments for two reasons: 1) they are powerless without any control over the social control agents, and 2) they are a threat to the majority group. This would imply that race has some influence over decision- making. Yet, research in this area has been mixed making it unclear if or how race has any influence (Peterson & Hagan, 1984; Leiber, 2003). Researchers have performed studies of the demographic characteristics, circumstances, and elements of a court case to clarify these mixed results (Kempf-Leonard & Sample, 2001; Leiber & Mack, 2005). An important issue in this process has been the perceptions of important decision-makers and the role that race plays when a decision needs to be made (Steffensmeier, 1980). G. E. Higgins (E) Department of Justice Administration, University of Louisville, 2301 South Third Street 208 Brigman Hall, Louisville, KY, USA e-mail: gehiggOl@louisville.edu M. L. Ricketts - J. D. Griffith - S. A. Jirard Shippensburg University, Shippensburg, PA, USA 4L Springer