Lindsey M Cole, Elizabeth A Moschella-Smith, Paul J Hennigan, Cesar J Rebellon, Karen T Van Gundy, Ellen S Cohn
{"title":"Racial differences in legal socialization models across adolescence and emerging adulthood.","authors":"Lindsey M Cole, Elizabeth A Moschella-Smith, Paul J Hennigan, Cesar J Rebellon, Karen T Van Gundy, Ellen S Cohn","doi":"10.1037/lhb0000523","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>White and non-White adolescents report different experiences in the legal system. This disparity impacts their evaluations of, and attitudes toward, legal authorities such that non-White and older adolescents tend to perceive the legal system more negatively. Yet, many researchers assume that the process of legal socialization, which involves internalizing norms and information about the law and the legal system, is universal for all ages and races.</p><p><strong>Hypotheses: </strong>We hypothesized that legal socialization models would change over the course of adolescent development and would differ by race.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>We used data from two longitudinal studies to examine racial differences in the integrated legal socialization model in early, middle, and late adolescence. Study 1 included 140 young adolescents (59% White, 41% non-White), and Study 2 included 296 midadolescents (82% White, 18% non-White) followed into late adolescence/emerging adulthood.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Study 1 identified differences in the integrated legal socialization model for young White and non-White adolescents. Normative status predicted rule-violating behavior for White participants, whereas no predictors or mediators related to rule-violating behavior for non-White participants. In Study 2, legal and moral reasoning during midadolescence became relevant in the model for both groups. Enforcement status predicted rule-violating behavior for non-White youth, whereas normative status continued to predict rule-violating behavior for White youth. In late adolescence/emerging adulthood, differences in the model shifted toward the relation between reasoning and legal attitudes.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our findings suggest that legal socialization is a developmental process occurring and changing throughout adolescence and that this developmental process differs for White and non-White youth. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).</p>","PeriodicalId":48230,"journal":{"name":"Law and Human Behavior","volume":"47 1","pages":"83-99"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4000,"publicationDate":"2023-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Law and Human Behavior","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1037/lhb0000523","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"LAW","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objective: White and non-White adolescents report different experiences in the legal system. This disparity impacts their evaluations of, and attitudes toward, legal authorities such that non-White and older adolescents tend to perceive the legal system more negatively. Yet, many researchers assume that the process of legal socialization, which involves internalizing norms and information about the law and the legal system, is universal for all ages and races.
Hypotheses: We hypothesized that legal socialization models would change over the course of adolescent development and would differ by race.
Method: We used data from two longitudinal studies to examine racial differences in the integrated legal socialization model in early, middle, and late adolescence. Study 1 included 140 young adolescents (59% White, 41% non-White), and Study 2 included 296 midadolescents (82% White, 18% non-White) followed into late adolescence/emerging adulthood.
Results: Study 1 identified differences in the integrated legal socialization model for young White and non-White adolescents. Normative status predicted rule-violating behavior for White participants, whereas no predictors or mediators related to rule-violating behavior for non-White participants. In Study 2, legal and moral reasoning during midadolescence became relevant in the model for both groups. Enforcement status predicted rule-violating behavior for non-White youth, whereas normative status continued to predict rule-violating behavior for White youth. In late adolescence/emerging adulthood, differences in the model shifted toward the relation between reasoning and legal attitudes.
Conclusions: Our findings suggest that legal socialization is a developmental process occurring and changing throughout adolescence and that this developmental process differs for White and non-White youth. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).
期刊介绍:
Law and Human Behavior, the official journal of the American Psychology-Law Society/Division 41 of the American Psychological Association, is a multidisciplinary forum for the publication of articles and discussions of issues arising out of the relationships between human behavior and the law, our legal system, and the legal process. This journal publishes original research, reviews of past research, and theoretical studies from professionals in criminal justice, law, psychology, sociology, psychiatry, political science, education, communication, and other areas germane to the field.