Race, Skin Tone, and Police Contact Among Contemporary Teens

Amanda Geller and Ellis Monk
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Amanda Geller: New York University
Ellis Monk: Harvard University

Working Papers from Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing.

Abstract: Contemporary urban youth are heavily policed, many as early as preadolescence. This policing is characterized by significant racial disparities,with black teens reporting more,and more intrusive experiences. Along history, and growing literature, suggests that police encounters may vary not only by race, but by complexion.We examine skin tone disparities in police contact among a population-based sample of over 1,000 teens from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study. We observe a robust "light skin privilege" in which light-skinned adolescents are less likely than others to report contact with the police, and report lower levels of police intrusion. Significant skin tone differences in the probability of reporting stops were also observed within the subsample of black teens (N=504). Differences within the smaller subsample of Hispanic teens were of similar magnitude but statistically insignificant. For both black and Hispanic teens, within-race skin tone differences in stop intrusion were suggestive of a light skin privilege, but statistically significant.

JEL-codes: D63 K14 K42 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-law and nep-ure
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