Incarceration of Minority Youth

• NCJ Number: 101961
• Author(s): B Krisberg; I Schwartz; G Fishman; Z Eisikovits; E Guttman
• Date Published: 1986
• Length: 58 pages
• Corporate Author: University of Minnesota
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS.

Annotation

This examination of the incarceration of minority youth compared four data sets: 1977-1982 children in custody survey data on youth incarceration in private and public juvenile correctional facilities, 1980 census data, 1977-1982 Uniform Crime Reports, and 1976-1983 self-reported delinquency data from the National Youth Survey.

Abstract

Together with a review of previous research, analyses document the growing numbers of minority youth confined in juvenile correctional facilities. Minority youth are confined at a rate 3 to 4 times that of whites, are more likely to be confined in more secure facilities, and were increasingly overrepresented in correctional facilities between 1979-1982. Data on arrests and self-reported delinquency failed to support the hypothesis that this overrepresentation was a function of minority youth's greater involvement in serious criminal activity. Other data, however, suggest that the higher arrest rates of minority youth and stiffer penalties for chronic offenders may contribute to the disproportionate incarceration of minority youth. Tables and 51 references.