NCJ Number
170956
Journal
Law and Society Review Volume: 27 Issue: 2 Dated: (1993) Pages: 285-311
Date Published
1993
Length
23 pages
Annotation
A framework for considering the relationship between socioeconomic inequality and juvenile court processing was developed and tested using data for more than 200 counties in 1985.
Abstract
The macrolevel framework combined ideas taken from conflict theory, research on urban poverty, and recent race-specific trends in drug law enforcement. The research examined how the structural context, especially racial inequality and the concentration of underclass poverty, influences the formal petitioning, detention before disposition, and out-of-home placement of juveniles. Results were generally consistent with the hypothesis that underclass black people are regarded as a threatening group to middle-class populations and thus experience increased control by the juvenile justice system. This pattern was especially pronounced for secure detention prior to disposition and for adjudicated out-of-home placement. Results also revealed that the effect of macrolevel structure was generally larger for black youth than for white youth and appeared for drug law offenses as well as other juvenile delinquencies. Findings should be considered preliminary. Nevertheless, the results have implications for both theory and policy regarding juvenile processing. Tables and 67 references