The Disproportionate Overrepresentation of Minority Youth in ...

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officer. “I like her, she’s better than what I thought she would be. I hope she likes me.”
There were a few youth who did not respect their probation officers. The white
youth did not elaborate on their answers. A black youth not only disliked his probation
officer but anyone involved with the law. “I don’t like none. I don’t like no one as mostly
official to the law.”
Next, the youth were asked if they wanted to be a probation officer. Results from
the self-reports indicate that 76 percent of whites almost never to never wanted to be a
probation officer, while 84 percent of blacks responded almost never to never. These
results strongly contrast the results from the interviews. Interestingly, both races felt that
they might like to be a probation officer.
A black male felt that being a probation officer would be an important and a
respectful job. “I would and I would do my job. When P0’s are good they get a lot of
respect from the kids.” Another black youth expressed a desire to help young black
children. “That I might put into consideration, because I like helping youth, but I’m
gonna help them in a different side. I’m gonna help mostly the black community, but if
there’s whites that want to get into, I’m gonna help them.” A black female felt her
experiences in the system would make her a good probation officer. “Yeah, cuz I like to
see people back with their families. I can just think back when I was growing up and try
to help them.” A white male held a similar view. “Yeah, I would