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The Disproportionate Overrepresentation of Minority Youth in ...

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this country. I don’t th<strong>in</strong>k it is there like it used to be. Prevention programs<br />

<strong>in</strong> schools would be a good idea.<br />

<strong>The</strong>re are some decision makers who believe youth who are <strong>in</strong> gangs can be<br />

helped. For <strong>in</strong>stance, accord<strong>in</strong>g to the decision makers, parents need to be more <strong>in</strong>volved<br />

with their kids to help control the gang problem. <strong>The</strong>y believe that if kids get all the love,<br />

support, and encouragement they need at home, they will not be as tempted to jo<strong>in</strong> a gang<br />

because there is less <strong>in</strong>centive. This belief correlates with the rehabilitation philosophy<br />

displayed by the personnel. One decision maker believes the best way to deal with the<br />

gang problem is not to glamorize it like the media, but to treat gang members like any<br />

other crim<strong>in</strong>al. As she says, “Thugs are thugs.”<br />

Race Differences <strong>in</strong> General<br />

<strong>The</strong>re was quite a bit <strong>of</strong> variance among the decision makers <strong>in</strong> Scott County<br />

about racial differences as far as crimes committed, attitude, cooperation, and respect for<br />

authority. Juvenile justice decision makers were asked if they believed blacks commit<br />

different crimes and more crime <strong>in</strong> contrast to whites. <strong>The</strong> self-reports showed that the<br />

majority believed that blacks and whites commit the same types <strong>of</strong> crimes and attitude<br />

plays an important role <strong>in</strong> whether or not a youth is arrested (Table 6, 7).<br />

Crimes<br />

Most <strong>of</strong> the personnel did not agree with the statement that blacks commit different<br />

crimes than whites (64 percent strongly disagreed/disagreed). However, those that<br />

responded to the question were divided on the issue that m<strong>in</strong>orities commit more crime<br />

than whites (35 percent agreed and 42 percent strongly disagreed/disagreed).

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