Minorities in Juvenile Justice

Providing current information on the disparate treatment of minority youth within the juvenile justice system, this volume begins by identifying the need for a better understanding of how minority youths experience this system. The book then draws on research programmes that reflect different techniques of investigation, sampling and analysis with several racial minority groups. Topics include: juvenile encounters with police; the role of community structure in shaping the perceptions of juvenile crime and the response to it; and the treatment of Native American youths in juvenile justice. In conclusion the book outlines strategies for research and observation of over-representation of minorities as well as steps to help overcome racial bia

The experiences of minority youths in the juvenile justice system are strikingly different from those of their white counterparts. In response to the overrepresentation of minority youths in confinement, Congress amended the Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention Act to require states to investigate the imbalance and develop action plans to fix problem situations. In this carefully edited volume, the contributors note the extent and sources of disparate treatment of youths within juvenile justice and identify the need to respond to this bias. Findings from research and provocative analysis of topics such as racial difference in encounters with police, in urban juvenile court, in confinement and punishment, and among groups within juvenile justice awaken the reader to the variety of racial bias in the system. The authors also offer creative and practical policy recommendations and strategies for overcoming racial inequity in the juvenile justice process. Practitioners and researchers in juvenile justice, criminology, corrections, policing, sociology, and ethnic studies will find the cross-section of information in the volume enlightening. The material presented also ideally fits supplementary text needs for coursework dealing with race and crime. "This volume delivers a full and complete view of one of the most critical issues in juvenile justice. Rousing and informative, the book comes highly recommended." --Barry Krisberg, Ph.D., President, National Council on Crime and Delinquency, San Francisco