The Disproportionate Overrepresentation of Minority Youth in ...

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The first black youth believed that he should be seeing his probation officer
weekly. The interviewer suggested that the reason the youth didn’t have to come as often
anymore might be because the probation officer trusted him. This pleased the youth but
he still responded:
I didn’t know. Cause when I come to see _______ all the time, it makes
me think all the time. And if I come see him every week, I’d be thinking
every week.
The second black youth responded to the system by indicating that the system is to quick
to remove them from their home.
I don’t think they should take kids out of their homes, taking them from
their families. Put them on probation and check in on them once in awhile
and make sure that they get counseling and stuff.
One Native American youth offered a suggestion about children and treatment. In
response to the question, “Should children be put into treatment”, the youth responded:
A: Yes, there are some children that really do need it.
Q: If you had to set up a system to deal with these types of children, would
you do it the same way
A: No, I would set it up so that the child could be with his family and talk
to his family more about his problems and the problems that he has with
his family.
Q: Do you think that some families cause the problems
A: Yeah, some kids say that their family is the problem. Maybe the mom
goes out a lot and the dad gets drunk a lot so the kid sees this and thinks
that he should go out and do it to.
Overall, these youth do not see major problems with the system. They just feel
there are some things that could make it easier for the youth and their families to conform
to the demands placed upon them.