ABSTRACT
The racial and ethnic composition of the United States has drastically changed over the last few decades. This transformation has important implications for theory, research, policy, and public opinion surrounding the topic of race/ethnicity and the justice systems. Most recent, media depictions of the relationship between race and social/criminal injustice have reawakened the question of race relations in twenty-first-century America. Prior research finds that media portrays both social ideologies and race relations in ways that reinforce stereotypical beliefs. This chapter highlights contemporary topics surrounding the overrepresentation of racial and ethnic minorities throughout both the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems. It provides the field with innovative insight into how race and ethnicity interconnect with all aspects of criminology and criminal justice, but also help encourage future directions of research. The chapter addresses a wide range of research areas that have important implications for racial and ethnic minorities.
