Knowledge and Perceptions of Juvenile Justice Officials About Selection Bias

• NCJ Number: 208474
• Journal: Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 33 Issue: 1 Dated: January/February 2005 Pages: 67-75
• Author(s): Clarence R. Talley; Theresa Rajack-Talley; Richard Tewksbury
• Editor(s): Kent B. Joscelyn
• Date Published: January 2005
• Length: 9 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2000-JF-FX-0821
• Sponsoring Agency: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined the knowledge and perceptions of juvenile justice officials about selection bias and other causes associated with minority overrepresentation.

Abstract

A major theme in past literature has been that racial and ethnic disparities were a consistent and pervasive feature, nationally, of the juvenile justice system. In addition, studies which examined selection bias within the juvenile justice system found that selection bias was found to occur at all decisionmaking levels of the juvenile justice system. This study examined the level of knowledge and the perceptions of juvenile justice officials on selection bias as a contributing factor to minority overrepresentation. The study was part of a larger research project on minority overrepresentation in the juvenile justice system of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. It utilized the qualitative data from the larger study to ascertain the level of knowledge of juvenile justice officials about the existence and extent of selection bias within the system and perceptions about the causes of minority overrepresentation external to the system. Results indicated that about half of the respondents were of the view that selection bias did not exist in the juvenile justice system and the other half reported that selection bias was possible, but differed on the extent to which this existed in the system. All respondents believed that social and economic factors external to the system contributed to minority overrepresentation and that the greater exposure of minority juveniles to risk factors was a contributing factor to minority overrepresentation. The differing perception about the extent and effect of selection bias could be linked to the officials’ beliefs about whether discrimination against minority group members was of an individual or institutionalized nature. The study highlights the need for future investigations on how attitudes, perceptions, and stereotypes could affect decisionmaking in juvenile processing. References