NCJ Number
205720
Journal
Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice Volume: 2 Issue: 2 Dated: April 2004 Pages: 107-128
Editor(s)
Tory J. Caeti,
Eric J. Fritsch
Date Published
April 2004
Length
22 pages
Annotation
This study examined to what extent racial disparity and discrimination exist for male property offenders within several counties of the Missouri Juvenile Justice System.
Abstract
Research shows that juveniles who are African-American are disproportionately overrepresented in the juvenile justice system in comparison to their proportions in the general population. Disparity may occur because of differences in offense severity or rate of offending or some youths may have more prior offenses or be involved in more serious types of offenses and therefore be more likely to be found delinquent. This study, using juvenile court data of 4,284 cases within 6 counties in Missouri, examined to what extent racial disparity and discrimination existed for male property offenders. The cases used were court cases that were disposed in Missouri courts with juvenile jurisdiction in 1994. The overall findings suggest that for male youths suspected of property offenses, “contextual racial/ethnic discrimination” occurred in some jurisdictions during selected decision points in the juvenile justice system. The study also showed the importance of jurisdictional differences among counties. Assuming that racial/ethnic disparity is the problem, these findings suggest that discrimination occurred for nonviolent juvenile offenders. In addition, it shows that the violent trend has little to do with the disparate treatment of African-American youths. Future research recommendations are presented and discussed. Appendices A-B and references