The Disproportionate Overrepresentation of Minority Youth in ...

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eferrals involving both delinquent offenses and cases pertaining to children in need of 3 supervision. Polk County: This county has a total population of 327,140 with persons age 17 and younger comprising 81, 971 (Bureau of the Census, 1990). Minority youth make up 10.25% of those age 17 and younger with blacks making up 47% of the population (Bureau of the Census, 1990). The juvenile court services in Polk county handle referrals involving delinquent offenses, cases pertaining to children in need of supervision, and incidents where mental health is at issue (chapter 229). Juvenile court services in this county also deal with parental termination rights and situations where families and their children need assistance. Scott County: This county has a total population of 150,979 with persons age 17 and younger making up 42,187 of that number (Bureau of the Census, 1990). Minority youth comprise 11.91% of those age 17 and younger with blacks making up 69.74% of that figure (Bureau of the Census, 1990). The largest city within Scott county is Davenport with a black youth population of 12.82% (Bureau of the Census, 1990). This county deals with both CHINA and delinquency cases. Sample Selection All cases for this study were selected from juvenile court referrals over the twelve-year period from 1980 to 1991. A referral was defined as such if the situation involved a youth accused of committing a delinquent offense. In addition, a youth accused of committing more than one crime during a given incident
was counted as only one referral. The unit of analysis is the juvenile rather than the 4 charge. Additional delinquencies were taken into account by the variable ‘Current Number of Charges’, which will be discussed later in the chapter. The study did not examine why youth commit crime or police decision making as it pertains to juveniles. Each of the counties differ in their racial composition and in the number and type of referrals. Therefore, different sampling techniques were used to create racial comparison groups. The sample selection employed in each county will be discussed separately. Sampling procedures, variables, and the statistical procedures employed are presented in Table 1. Black Hawk County: A total of 9,011 referrals were identified for the twelveyear period. Since the study focuses on racial differences, it was important to have adequate number of both whites and minorities represented in the sample. Therefore, disproportionate stratified sampling was employed to create racial comparison groups. A random sample of 1,218 referrals of delinquent cases involving white youths from a total of 8,111 was selected for the analyses. The entire population of black youths (n= 900) was targeted to provide a sufficiently large number for comparison purposes. Of this number, 823 were included in the study because the files for the remaining cases were missing or had been destroyed. The total sample for the analysis for this county numbered 2,030. Woodburv County: A total of 10,331 referrals were identified during the time frame of the study. A random sample of referrals
Page 1 and 2: The Disproportionate Overrepresenta
Page 3 and 4: The Disproportionate Overrepresenta
Page 5 and 6: Each of the following persons, in a
Page 7 and 8: Race Differences in Processing…
Page 9 and 10: Future Opportunities……………
Page 11 and 12: Crimes………………………
Page 13 and 14: LIST OF TABLES Title Page # Summary
Page 15 and 16: Frequency Distributions of Variable
Page 17 and 18: Definition of Variables Used to Rep
Page 19 and 20: Frequency Distributions of Variable
Page 21 and 22: Definitions of Variables Used to Re
Page 23: Research Sites 2 Due to the relativ
Page 27 and 28: 6 result of an active policy which
Page 29 and 30: 8 outcomes is as follows: adjudicat
Page 31 and 32: 10 Analysis The analyses followed t
Page 33 and 34: 12 Scott County: At the stage of pe
Page 35 and 36: 14 Table 1. Summary of Research Des
Page 37 and 38: 16 Table 1-continued. _____________
Page 39 and 40: 18 Table 2--Continued. Black Hawk W
Page 41 and 42: Table 3.-continued. 20 Disposition
Page 43 and 44: Table 3.-continued. 22 Disposition
Page 45 and 46: 24 objective of this approach was t
Page 47 and 48: 26 negative light, represented by b
Page 49 and 50: 28 Thus, the decision makers respon
Page 51 and 52: 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
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Blacks/Dropout Placement 54 The sec
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56 of things doesn’t get arrested
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58 I think that traditionally Black
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60 while job and they are contribut
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62 be. If someone has done wrong an
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64 also varied. The two more promin
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66 Table 2. Definition of Variables
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Table 3--continued. 68 Variable Nam
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Table 5--continued. 72 Variable Nam
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Table 5--continued. Variable Name C
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76 Table 7. Frequency Distributions
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Table 10. Definition of Variable Re
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Table 11--continued. Variable Name
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84 Several black youth felt that wh
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86 Some individuals did believe tha
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88 In summary both races felt that
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90 A black male reasoned that black
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92 variation in the responses. A ma
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94 than white. Almost all of t blac
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96 for a probation violation.” A
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98 get to associate with kids and h
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100 “It’s too hard for me. I do
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102 married or nothing like that.
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104 Table 1. Definition of Variable
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Table 2--continued. White Black Var
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108 Table 4. Frequency Distribution
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110 Table 4--continued. White Black
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120 more diversified personnel to a
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122 I have problems with the facili
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124 adhere to, you know, to the cou
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126 laymen, lay people the authorit
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128 called an original gang member.
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opportunity, or do you wait for the
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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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Table 3--continued 168 Variable Nam
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Page 193 and 194:
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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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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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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Page 325 and 326:
Page 327 and 328:
Page 329 and 330:
Table 4-continued. White Black Vari
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Page 333 and 334:
Page 335 and 336:
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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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The Disproportionate Overrepresentation of Minority Youth in ...

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