The Disproportionate Overrepresentation of Minority Youth in ...

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however, were the dominant themes. For example, individual choice, lack of family
supervision and parenting skills stood out. Peer pressure and gang affiliation also
emerged as possible explanations. A small minority of the decision makers focused on
violent images that are perceived to come from music and the media.
Race Specific Differences
Some of the officers suggest blacks commit more crime, while others contend
they are involved in different types of delinquency, such as drug sales and usage. Some
suggest both whites and blacks commit crime, but blacks are caught more often due to
police concentration in low income areas.
A majority of the decision makers also believed that blacks came from
dysfunctional families. Here, the perception is that many of the homes do not provide
adequate support, supervision and discipline. In part, the disproportionate number of
single parent families was viewed to be lacking in these factors. Teen—pregnancy and a
lack of positive male role models were also cited.
There were officers from some of the counties who explicitly and implicitly felt
that many of the characteristics just described are passed on from generation to
generation. Included in these values are the deemphasis on education and respect for the
law. In response to this belief, some of the decision makers believed it was especially
important to stress adherence