| Summary: | Adolescents' views of the legal system, just world beliefs, and moral emotions are interrelated and form an important frame of reference, particularly for young people involved in the juvenile justice system. Yet past scholarship has generally treated these as independent indices of youths' experience. This study took a person‐centered, latent profile approach to attitudes and beliefs among 136 male youth incarcerated within secure US juvenile facilities. Three heterogeneous profiles were found (negative attitudes/low emotion, moderate attitudes/mixed emotions, and positive attitudes/positive emotion) which were differentially associated with antisocial behavior. Youth who belonged to historically marginalized populations had significantly lower odds of belonging to a protective profile characterized by positive legal attitudes, just world beliefs, and emotions (positive attitudes/positive emotion). Findings highlight our gaps in understanding young people's experiences with legal and judicial entities and illustrate significant heterogeneity in youth's frame of reference within the juvenile justice system. Highlights: Youth involved in the juvenile justice system have diverse attitudes, beliefs, and experiences.Using a person‐centered statistical approach, three distinct youth profiles emerged.Latent profiles predicted different levels of delinquency, aggression, and antisocial decisions.Minority ethnic youth had diminished odds of belonging to the most protective typology.Programs should assume diversity in youths' justice system experiences and seek enhancements.
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