The Disproportionate Overrepresentation of Minority Youth in ...

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I think they’re about the same, I do. I think they’re about the same in
terms of respect. In both the black situations and the white, you’ll find
some who come in with a real snotty attitude and you’ll find some who
come in really wanting to work through what we’re doing and get me out
of their life. I can’t say I see a difference.
Race Differences in Processing
Three topics comprised the discussion provided in this section of the chapter: the
police, the juvenile justice system itself, and the disproportionate overrepresentation of
blacks in secure facilities. The findings obtained through the interviews suggest that the
arrest stage is the most likely stage for bias to occur in the system. This view correlates
with the belief that being watched by the police more than whites is a major reason for
the blacks being more prevalent in the system than expected.
Police
In response to the closed ended questions, the decision makers were split evenly
(28 percent agreed and 28 percent strongly disagreed! disagreed) in response to the
statement “White youth are picked up less by the police than black youth” (Tables 8,9).
Forty—four percent refused to either agree or disagree with the statement. Ninety-three
percent, however, agreed that police treat black youth differently than white youth at least
sometimes (28 percent thought they were treated differently most or all of the time).
A reading of the interviews suggests that most of the juvenile court personnel
believe the police are biased to some extent in their interactions with youth. Differences
in arrests are seen to be the result of patrolling patterns. The disproportionate