The Disproportionate Overrepresentation of Minority Youth in ...

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The results from the self reports indicated a majority of blacks and whites had no
desire to become a probation officer. Eighty-six percent of blacks said they would never
like to be a probation officer. Of the whites, 79 percent answered in a similar fashion.
Not many youth expanded on their responses as to why they had no desire to
become a probation officer. The few that would like to be a probation officer indicated it
was due to their experiences in the system. This experience was believed to allow them to
help children. One white youth reported, “I did the same mistakes and would like to show
them (kids) that you can succeed.” The dominant reason for not wanting to be a probation
officer was as one youth stated, “I don’t want anything to do with the law.”
Problems in the System
Finally, the youth were asked if there were any problems they felt were present in
the court system. The main problems cited were the amount of strictness and the lack of
focus on the family. The blacks were about evenly split between the system being too
strict and the lack of family focus. One youth said, “The rules are too strict. . .allows cops
to just go out there and harass you.” Another black suggested the judge can be too strict
depending on his or her mood, “He could be in a pissed of f mood and say, ‘fuck it, dumb
nigger, you going two years in Eldora’.” Concerned about broken ties with the family one
black states, “There is too much money in putting kids in placements. . .they