The Disproportionate Overrepresentation of Minority Youth in ...

348
As a person who hires here, I almost become a believer in affirmative
action, because I really believe in the importance of that. I’ve not been
able, when I’ve hired, which isn’t too often, to recruit minority applicants
who have either the experience or the education to compete real well with
the people that I’ve hired.
Summary
By talking with the juvenile court decision makers about a number of factors,
ranging from their views of the juvenile justice system to reasons for the disproportionate
overrespresentation of minorities in secure facilities, a theme of rehabilitation emerges. In
Scott County, most personnel cited background characteristics, such as economics and
the family, as reasons for youth involvement in delinquent activity. In keeping with this
belief, the philosophy of rehabilitation stands to reason since it suggests that by fixing the
problems in a child’s life, he or she will no longer have reason to commit crimes. Thus,
blacks are generally believed to evidence more indications of a dysfunctional background
and a greater likelihood of participation in delinquent activity. Family distrust, police
deployment patterns, and adherence to cultural values that involve nonconformity are all
believed to contribute to the disproportionate overrepresentation of blacks in secure
facilities. Some indications were provided that suggest police may somewhat bias
towards minorities in comparison to whites.
A major portion of the interviews with the decision makers involved their
explanations for the findings from the first part of the study. They explained the finding
that blacks were petitioned less than whites by saying that blacks are given more breaks
when they first enter the system to ensure that they are not discriminated against. They