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Abstract
African American adolescents are disproportionately represented in the juvenile justice and encounter various race-related challenges. While there are conflicting theories that attempt to explain disproportionate minority confinement, scholars generally agree that African Americans are differentially impacted by race-related variables. There is a dearth of research examining the effects of race-related events and attitudes among African American juvenile offenders. This study examined the risk, compensatory, and protective effects of racial identity, internalized racism, discrimination distress, and parent racial socialization on various outcomes with African American adolescents in community and detention center settings. Correlation, hierarchical regression, and logistic regression analyses were conducted to test several hypotheses. Results of the statistical analyses identified interrelationships between several variables. Results also identified discrimination distress as a risk factor and racial identity as a protective factor for internalizing problems and emotional symptoms. Various models were also able to predict recidivism. Limitations and future directions for research are discussed.