The journal analyzed national crime data from 1997 to 2008, sans traffic violations, and found disparities between black and white males. Surprisingly, according to the journal, there was little variation between black and white women.
“A problem is that many males — especially black males — are navigating the transition from youth to adulthood with the baggage and difficulties from contact with the criminal justice system,” Robert Brame, the study’s lead author and a criminology professor at the University of South Carolina, said in a statement.
Other key findings from the journal of Crime and Delinquency:
- By age 18, 30 percent of black males, 26 percent of Hispanic males and 22 percent of white males have been arrested.
- By age 23, 49 percent of black males, 44 percent of Hispanic males and 38 percent of white males have been arrested.
- While the prevalence of arrest increased for females from age 18 to 23, the variation between races was slight. At age 18, arrest rates were 12 percent for white females and 11.8 percent and 11.9 percent for Hispanic and black females, respectively. By age 23, arrest rates were 20 percent for white females and 18 percent and 16 percent for Hispanic and black females, respectively.
Brame claims the study offered the first new Millennium analysis of arrest variations among different demographics.
