By age 23, 48 percent of all American black men will have been arrested at least once, according to a new study analyzing national survey data from 1997 to 2008. The study is the latest evidence that young black males are disproportionately exposed to the criminal justice system. But it also shows high rates of criminal interaction among all young American males.
The
journal Crime & Delinquency published the study Monday, which found
that 49 percent of African-American males and 40 percent of Caucasians
had been arrested by 23.
The
authors, led by criminologist Robert Brame from the University of South
Carolina, also wrote that 44 percent of Hispanic males were taken into
police custody by the same age, “which can hurt their ability to find
work, go to school and participate fully in their communities,” they
wrote in a press release.
