The Disproportionate Overrepresentation of Minority Youth in ...

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Chapter Four YOUTH BLACK HAWK COUNTY Ninety-three youth from Black Hawk County participated in the self-report study. Of these, 60 were white and 33 were black. There were also 40 interviews conducted. Twenty of these interviews were black and 20 were white. Questions were asked concerning youth views on discrimination in society in general, police, probation officers, school, and who they blame for their current situation. The responses to the closed ended questions are listed in the tables at the end of the chapter. Both blacks and whites believe discrimination is presently a problem but are optimistic about improving conditions in the future. On the whole, both races responded negatively toward issues on the treatment prescribed by the police toward minorities. On the other hand, all youth responded rather positively toward their probation officers. There seemed to be some indications of racial bias in the educational system. Finally, the majority of the youth placed the blame for their current situation on themselves. General Perceptions Discrimination The majority of both blacks and whites believed racial discrimination is getting worse. Support for this view is found in Tables 1 and 2, and from a reading of the transcribed interviews. 83
84 Several black youth felt that white people were holding them back. As one black male stated, “ CUZ it’s a white man’s world. . .We was slaves for too long, and there ain’t nothing really changed. Whenever a white person wanna get something that a black man wanna get and got the same education as a black man, the white man gonna get it.” Another black youth stated, “The white people really don’t want the black people to have nothing, like when you get a bar, then they try to say all this stuff going on, and they close you down. The white people don’t want the black people to move up in society.” A white female believed that society perpetuates discrimination from one generation to the next, “A long time ago black people were nothing, if they did something wrong, white people could beat them up, and nothing could happen to them. And their parents go around telling their kids that black people aren’t any good and black people tell their kids that, so they just make it worse.” Another white youth indicated that racial discrimination persisted because society still judges people on the color of their skin. “Because nowadays it’s all about that. It’s people in the gangs and how people see one another because of their skin color.” A white male put the blame on the blacks themselves, “If they change their attitude they will probably get a lot more chances to do a lot of things and they would have a lot more friends.” A small number of the youth were optimistic about racial discrimination. For example, a black male stated, “I was
Page 1 and 2:
The Disproportionate Overrepresenta
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The Disproportionate Overrepresenta
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Each of the following persons, in a
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Race Differences in Processing…
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Future Opportunities……………
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Crimes………………………
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LIST OF TABLES Title Page # Summary
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Frequency Distributions of Variable
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Definition of Variables Used to Rep
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Frequency Distributions of Variable
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Definitions of Variables Used to Re
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Research Sites 2 Due to the relativ
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was counted as only one referral. T
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6 result of an active policy which
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8 outcomes is as follows: adjudicat
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10 Analysis The analyses followed t
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12 Scott County: At the stage of pe
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14 Table 1. Summary of Research Des
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16 Table 1-continued. _____________
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18 Table 2--Continued. Black Hawk W
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Table 3.-continued. 20 Disposition
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Table 3.-continued. 22 Disposition
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24 objective of this approach was t
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26 negative light, represented by b
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28 Thus, the decision makers respon
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30 specific county is first present
Page 53 and 54: Table 1. Number of Self-Reports and
Page 55 and 56: 34 in interacting with youth. The e
Page 57 and 58: 36 end up being good and I learned
Page 59 and 60: 38 he is on probation, he knows the
Page 61 and 62: 40 . . . level of supervision and a
Page 63 and 64: 42 For the young black man it is a
Page 65 and 66: 44 (47 percent answered most of the
Page 67 and 68: 46 the result of disproportionate i
Page 69 and 70: 48 court whereas a person without t
Page 71 and 72: 50 and deprivation financially and
Page 73 and 74: 52 referred on to petition. The res
Page 75 and 76: Blacks/Dropout Placement 54 The sec
Page 77 and 78: 56 of things doesn’t get arrested
Page 79 and 80: 58 I think that traditionally Black
Page 81 and 82: 60 while job and they are contribut
Page 83 and 84: 62 be. If someone has done wrong an
Page 85 and 86: 64 also varied. The two more promin
Page 87 and 88: 66 Table 2. Definition of Variables
Page 89 and 90: Table 3--continued. 68 Variable Nam
Page 93 and 94: Table 5--continued. 72 Variable Nam
Page 95 and 96: Table 5--continued. Variable Name C
Page 97 and 98: 76 Table 7. Frequency Distributions
Page 101 and 102: Table 10. Definition of Variable Re
Page 103: Table 11--continued. Variable Name
Page 107 and 108: 86 Some individuals did believe tha
Page 109 and 110: 88 In summary both races felt that
Page 111 and 112: 90 A black male reasoned that black
Page 113 and 114: 92 variation in the responses. A ma
Page 115 and 116: 94 than white. Almost all of t blac
Page 117 and 118: 96 for a probation violation.” A
Page 119 and 120: 98 get to associate with kids and h
Page 121 and 122: 100 “It’s too hard for me. I do
Page 123 and 124: 102 married or nothing like that.
Page 125 and 126: 104 Table 1. Definition of Variable
Page 127 and 128: Table 2--continued. White Black Var
Page 129 and 130: 108 Table 4. Frequency Distribution
Page 131 and 132: 110 Table 4--continued. White Black
Page 141 and 142: 120 more diversified personnel to a
Page 143 and 144: 122 I have problems with the facili
Page 145 and 146: 124 adhere to, you know, to the cou
Page 147 and 148: 126 laymen, lay people the authorit
Page 149 and 150: 128 called an original gang member.
Page 151 and 152: opportunity, or do you wait for the
Page 153 and 154: 132 ...there’s things that you di
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134 almost never/never). Thirty-fou
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136 I think that may be apart of it
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138 one-time meeting with this fami
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140 …no differences. I don’t th
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142 of our diversion programs as qu
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144 Q. As an excuse for why they co
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146 blacks were released while olde
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148 not be cooperative, it limits y
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150 Indian Youth of America is very
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Blacks, Native American Indians Les
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154 Overall, most of the decision m
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156 same schools in Sioux City. The
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158 A. Well, they’re living in Si
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160 A. Yeah, I think so. I think th
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162 ideological position is evident
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Table 1. Distributions of Decision
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166 Table 3. Frequency Distribution
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Table 3--continued 168 Variable Nam
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Table 5-continued. 172 Variable Nam
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Table 8. Definition of Variables Re
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Table 10. Definition of Variables R
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Table 11-continued. 178 Variable Na
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Chapter Six Woodbury County Youth T
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182 Q: Do you feel racial discrimin
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improving. There was one twelve yea
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186 Q: Do you feel racial discrimin
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188 Q: Do you feel that a black per
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190 In the interviews, half of the
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192 Trust The question asked in thi
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194 According to the Hispanic youth
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196 he always yells at the black ki
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(58 percent of the whites, 55 perce
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200 Q: Now, tell me why. A: Cause i
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202 Q: You mean of physical harm or
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204 have a lot of respect for the p
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Perceptions of Probation Officers 2
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208 blacks (Tables 5, 6). Generally
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210 Black youth He’s nice. He tal
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212 The first black youth believed
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214 because the teacher would not l
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216 and go to the principal’s off
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218 The youth have taken into consi
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220 Table 1. Definition of Variable
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Table 2-continued. White Black Vari
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226 Table 4-continued White Black V
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230 Table 6-continued. White Black
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234 Table 8--continued. White Black
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236 Perceived Role of the Court and
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238 There is extremely more paperwo
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As in the responses to the closed e
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242 getting the support from the pa
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244 They seem to want to turn the k
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246 crime. There are some officers,
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Police 248 In response to the close
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250 tend to be drawn to gang activi
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252 Blacks and Detention The first
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254 The problem is availability. Th
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256 the percentages. I don’t know
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258 Table 1. Distributions of Decis
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Table 6. Definition of Variables Re
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274 Table 11. Frequency Distributio
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Chapter Eight YOUTH POLK COUNTY The
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278 ...because of the last past thi
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280 equal opportunity; yet, youth w
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282 The trend in the interviews, fo
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284 in the minority. Racism is indi
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286 could single out a group that t
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288 I think it is because they are
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290 could trust the police, there w
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292 View of Probation Officer In th
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294 and he spoke out against me, ma
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296 Some of those blacks who did co
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Summary 298 In general, most of the
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Table 4-continued. White Black Vari
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Charter Nine Adult Decision Makers
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316 from becoming recidivists and
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318 The paperwork. I think I do my
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320 By reading through the intervie
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322 difference is that youth are no
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324 this country. I don’t think i
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326 I think some of them have to pr
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328 I think they’re about the sam
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330 My feeling is that the most com
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332 The Juvenile Justice System In
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334 I have seen a couple of instanc
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336 The Disproportionate Overrepres
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338 It just goes to show that is al
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340 Race Findings Specific to Study
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342 Blacks Receive Consent Decrees
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344 small minority we are dealing w
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346 In response to the second phase
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348 As a person who hires here, I a
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350 Table 1. Distributions of Decis
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354 Table 3-continued. Variable Nam
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Table 6. Definition of Variable Rep
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366 Table 11. Frequency Distributio
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Chapter Ten Youth Scott County Ther
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370 have equal job opportunities (6
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372 concerning opportunities in the
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374 police brutality. One expressed
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376 feel police do not treat everyo
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378 just thinks you’re never goin
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380 The results from the self repor
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382 white youth who reported he wou
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384 When asked whether they regrett
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400 Table 8-continued White Black V
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402 asked more general questions th
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404 however, were the dominant them
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406 In all four counties, decision
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408 Recommendations A number of rec
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410 encourage sexual promiscuity, a
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412 decision makers have little exp
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414 resources and rising expectatio
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416 Depending on the county, decisi
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418 family cooperativeness or defic
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420 Table 1. Summary of Themes and
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422 Explanations of Specific Findin
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BIBLIOGRAPHY Bishop, D. and C. Fraz
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