11.01.2015 Views

The Disproportionate Overrepresentation of Minority Youth in ...

The Disproportionate Overrepresentation of Minority Youth in ...

The Disproportionate Overrepresentation of Minority Youth in ...

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

94<br />

than white. Almost all <strong>of</strong> t black youth believed that the police picked on blacks while<br />

only some <strong>of</strong> the whites held a similar view. This may expla<strong>in</strong> why more <strong>of</strong> the black<br />

youth stated they had less respect for the police than white youth. F<strong>in</strong>ally, none <strong>of</strong> the<br />

youth desired to be a police <strong>of</strong>ficer. This appeared to be the result <strong>of</strong> their belief that<br />

<strong>of</strong>ficers are unfair.<br />

View <strong>of</strong> Probation Officer<br />

<strong>The</strong> youth were asked questions about their probation <strong>of</strong>ficers <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g<br />

treatment, respect, desire to become a probation <strong>of</strong>ficer, and perceived problems <strong>in</strong> the<br />

system. Responses to these closed—ended questions are provided <strong>in</strong> Tables 5 and 6.<br />

Treatment<br />

<strong>Youth</strong> were asked if they <strong>in</strong>dividually felt they were treated fairly by their<br />

probation <strong>of</strong>ficer. <strong>The</strong> results from the self— reports <strong>in</strong>dicated that 96 percent <strong>of</strong> the<br />

whites and 84 percent <strong>of</strong> the blacks felt their probation <strong>of</strong>ficer treated them fairly. Results<br />

from the <strong>in</strong>terviews suggested that some blacks felt they were treated fairly while others<br />

<strong>in</strong>dicated they were treated unfairly. <strong>The</strong>se results contrast the views <strong>of</strong> the whites. <strong>The</strong><br />

white youth almost unanimously felt they were treated fairly.<br />

A black female who felt she was treated fairly stated, “She (P0) did a lot. She<br />

worked with us.” None <strong>of</strong> the whites who felt they were treated fairly provided detailed<br />

<strong>in</strong>formation for their position.

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!