Black-White Delinquency in Mississippi - A Profile of Delinquency Based on Mississippi Juvenile Court Data

• NCJ Number: 85054
• Author(s): J A Portera
• Date Published: 1980
• Length: 83 pages
• Sale Source: UMI Dissertation Services; Not Available Through National Institute of Justice/NCJRS Document Loan Program
• Publication Type: Thesis/Dissertation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS. Mississippi State University - doctoral dissertation

Annotation

This study attempts to explain the black-white delinquency differential in a predominantly rural agricultural area of Mississippi. The basic theoretical framework is the Mertonian Anomie School which asserts that anomie and crime result from an individual's lack of access through legitimate means to culturally prescribed goals (i.e., material success).

Abstract

A total of 3,770 juvenile court cases were assessed. Results indicate that the proportion of adjudications involving blacks was higher than the proportion of their age group in the State and that more blacks were referred to the courts than whites. Blacks were adjudicated for nearly twice as many serious crimes as whites. Findings do not support the Mertonian theory of behavior as explaining the black-white delinquency differential. Structural variables, such as family income, mobility, and disorganization, were not as significant as the Mertonian theory suggests in predicting delinquency rates. The family income factor was important when the rate differential was examined but not when the seriousness differential was explored. Implications of these findings are examined. Appendixes include the measurement instrument, data tables, and about 30 references.