The Disproportionate Overrepresentation of Minority Youth in ...

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The first step is to identify why people act the way they do. The results from that
effort are reported in the beginning of this Chapter and in the previous Chapters of the
report. Decision making was presented as consisting of a variety of interrelated views on
life, conformity, and race relations. On the basis of this broad perspective, the objective
was to show how biases may be hidden in legal and extralegal factors and personal values
that influence decision making.
There is no evidence to suggest decision makers practice blatant racism. That is,
decision makers do not look at blacks and other minorities and as a result consciously
respond to them in a different manner solely on the basis of their skin color. Subtle
inadvertent biases, however, were evident, more so in some juvenile court offices than
others. Again, these attitudes and actions were not driven by purposeful intentions to treat
minorities differently than whites. Decision makers operate under good intentions.
Thus, we need to identify what factors may be indicative of subtle unintentional
forms of bias. A reoccuring theme from the interviews with the decision makers is
conformity to traditional middle-class values and norms. Decision makers’ attitudes
towards perceived deviations from these values and norms are likely to be manifest in
biased treatment toward blacks and other minorities relative to whites. Examples of
deviation to these standards include: lack of individual responsibility, alternative styles
of dress and demeanor, listening to rap music, perceived or actual affiliation with gangs,
nontraditional family structure and interaction patterns with juvenile court officials or
agencies of social control. Similarly, beliefs in the existence of minority subcultures that
are believed to deemphasize education and respect for the law or authority, and