Adolescence Does Not Divert Sex Offending Adolescents of Color from Criminal Legal System Involvement.

IF 4.5 2区社会学 Q1 FAMILY STUDIES

Child Maltreatment Pub Date : 2025-01-15 DOI:10.1177/10775595251314173

Margaret C Stevenson, Christian R Picot, Molly A Rivers

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

After the United States Civil War, during Reconstruction, Southern states targeted Black youth and men for incarceration and forced labor, often charging them with rape, spawning the Black male rapist myth. This study explores evidence of a Reconstruction-era ethos in present-day treatment of youth of color accused of sexual assault. Specifically, we examined effects of perpetrator age and race on legal outcomes in 382 alleged child sexual abuse cases. There were 291 adult perpetrators (91% men, M age = 34; 76% White, 20% Black, 2% biracial, 2% Latinx, and 1% Asian) and 91 adolescent perpetrators (96% boys, M age = 14; 73% White, 22% Black, 4% biracial, and 1% Latinx). Supporting hypotheses, adolescent (vs. adult) perpetrators were less frequently arrested or referred for prosecution-but only when they were White. In contrast, for perpetrators of color, being an adolescent (vs. an adult) did not reduce arrest or prosecutorial referral likelihood. Additionally, cases involving adolescents of color (vs. White adolescents) were more immediately criminally investigated. Thus, youthfulness does not proffer protection from criminal legal system involvement for adolescents of color accused of sex offending-evidence of modern and persistent racism rooted in a nation's past.

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青春期并不能使有色人种的性犯罪青少年免于刑事司法系统的介入。

美国内战结束后，在重建时期，南方各州针对黑人青年和男性进行监禁和强迫劳动，经常指控他们强奸，从而产生了黑人男性强奸犯的神话。本研究探讨了重建时代精神在当今对被指控性侵犯的有色人种青年的治疗中的证据。具体来说，我们研究了382起涉嫌儿童性虐待案件中肇事者的年龄和种族对法律结果的影响。共有291名成年犯罪者(91%为男性，M年龄= 34岁；76%为白人，20%为黑人，2%为混血儿，2%为拉丁裔，1%为亚洲人)，91名青少年犯罪者(96%为男孩，M年龄= 14；73%是白人，22%是黑人，4%是混血儿，1%是拉丁裔)。支持假设的是，青少年犯罪者（与成年人相比）被逮捕或被起诉的频率更低——但只有当他们是白人时。相比之下，对于有色人种的犯罪者，作为青少年（相对于成年人）并没有减少被逮捕或被起诉的可能性。此外，涉及有色人种青少年（相对于白人青少年）的案件更立即受到刑事调查。因此，年轻并不能为被控性犯罪的有色人种青少年提供刑事法律保护——这是一个国家过去根深蒂固的现代和持久的种族主义的证据。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Child Maltreatment Multiple-

CiteScore

6.80

自引率

7.80%

发文量

期刊介绍： Child Maltreatment is the official journal of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC), the nation"s largest interdisciplinary child maltreatment professional organization. Child Maltreatment"s object is to foster professional excellence in the field of child abuse and neglect by reporting current and at-issue scientific information and technical innovations in a form immediately useful to practitioners and researchers from mental health, child protection, law, law enforcement, medicine, nursing, and allied disciplines. Child Maltreatment emphasizes perspectives with a rigorous scientific base that are relevant to policy, practice, and research.