Resources for Disproportionate Minority Confinement/
Overrepresentation of Youth of Color
Key Studies
National Data on DMC and Racial Disparities
And Justice for Some January 2000. By Eileen Poe-Yamagata and Michael Jones. Available online from Building Blocks for Youth: http://www.buildingblocksforyouth.org/justiceforsome.
A nationwide study prepared by National Council on Crime and Delinquency found that African-American and Hispanic youths are treated more harshly than their White peers charged with comparable crimes at every step of the juvenile justice system. African-American youth with no prior admissions were six times more likely to be incarcerated than White youth for similar offenses. These results give a comprehensive overview of the disparate treatment of youth of color in the justice system, based on the most complete data on juvenile justice processing.
Disproportionate Confinement of Minority Juveniles in Secure Facilities: 1996 National Report December 1997. Prepared by Community Research Associates, Inc. Available from Community Research Associates, Inc., 309 West Clark Street, Champaign, IL 61820; 217-398-3120.
This report reveals that in the majority of States overrepresentation increases from the point of arrest through other points in the system to the final point of secure corrections. Among minority groups, overrepresentation of African-American youth are greater in most States, particularly at arrest and in confinement, than they are for any other minority group. In addition to the statewide DMC data, the report highlights a variety of strategies and approaches, such as cultural diversity training, community-based alternatives to secure detention and corrections, and policies and procedural revisions, that States are using to respond to DMC. Recommendations for the States emphasize outcome-evaluations of all DMC activities for its effectiveness in actually reducing the overrepresentation of youth of color in the juvenile justice system.
Disproportionate Minority Confinement: 1997 Update September 1998. By Heidi Hsia and Donna Hamparian. Available online from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention: http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles/170606.pdf.
In the report’s overview of the DMC initiative, 39 states have completed the identification and assessment phases and are implementing the intervention phase of DMC. Pennsylvania is highlighted for its model approach to addressing DMC that is systematic, data-driven, and targeted for raising public awareness, mobilizing support and resources, and implementing prevention and intervention programs.
Disproportionate Minority Confinement April 1994. By Mark Roscoe and Reggie Morton. Available online from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention: http://www.ncjrs.org/txtfiles/fs-9411.txt.
This fact sheet shows that youth of color are overrepresented at various points in the juvenile justice system. Youth of color are disproportionately represented from arrest to incarceration. In 1992, African-American youth accounted for 49% of the arrests for violent crimes. In 1991, 43% of youth in detention centers were African-American, 35% were White, and 19% were Hispanic.
Disproportionate Minority Confinement: A Review of the Research Literature from 1989 to 2001. 2002. By Carl Pope, Rick Lovell, and Heidi Hsia. Available online from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention: http://ojjdp.ncjrs.org/dmc/pdf/dmc89_01.pdf.
Summary: This study reviews the available literature on disproportionate minority confinement (DMC) published between 1989 to 2001. Earlier DMC literature review (Pope and Feyerherm, 1990) examined publications prior to 1989. The findings from this extended analysis show evidence, as in the previous research, of racial disparities and potential biases in juvenile justice processing. However, the causes and mechanisms are
complex to precisely identify the reasons why disproportionality occurs. Further DMC research should include: research on minorities other than African Americans; research on law enforcement policies and practices; research on the effects of efforts to reduce DMC; and research on alternatives to secure confinement.
Juveniles in Adult Prisons and Jails: A National Assessment October 2000. By James Austin, Kelly Johnson, and Maria Gregoriou. Available online from the Bureau of Justice Assistance: http://www.ncjrs.org/txtfiles1/bja/182503.txt.
This report provides the most up-to-date data on the growing number of youth in adult jails and prisons, as of 1998. Among the major findings, a higher proportion of youth was African-African (55%) in comparison with the adult offender population (48%). The proportion of the youthful and adult population with a Hispanic background was 14 % and 15 %, respectively. Approximately 26 % of the youthful offenders were White, compared with 35 % of the adult population. These data suggest the overrepresentation of youth of color among youth offenders in adult facilities and that youth of color are being unfairly targeted for incarceration in adult prisons.
Minorities and the Juvenile Justice System July 1995. By Carl Pope and William Feyerherm. Available from Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse, Department F, P.O. Box 6000, Rockville, MD 20850 or by contacting 1-800-638-8736.
Based on a comprehensive research literature analysis on the effects of race on juvenile justice processing, this report shows substantial evidence that race plays a direct and indirect role in the outcome of many juvenile justice decisions. Whether the disparity exists at any point in the juvenile justice system or at some stages and not at others, race effects are clearly pronounced in the juvenile justice system.
Minorities in the Juvenile Justice System December 1999. Available from Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention: http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles1/ojjdp/179007.pdf.
This focused report highlights the most critical findings from the Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 1999 National Report on the overrepresentation of youth of color in the juvenile justice system. As the latest statistics show, disproportionate minority representation is clearly evident at each stage of the juvenile justice system and becomes more apparent as youth go deeper into the system. In 1997, youth of color made up about one third of the juvenile population nationwide but accounted for almost two-thirds of the population in secure juvenile facilities. While the disproportionality has been attributed to differences in behavior, such an explanation fails to support the large discrepancy in numbers.
The Influence of Race in Juvenile Justice Processing 1988. By Donna Bishop and Charles Frazier. In Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 25(3):242-263. Available from Sage Publications, Inc., 2455 Teller Rd., Thousand Oaks, CA 91320; 805/499-0721.
This three-year study of youth in Florida’s juvenile justice system revealed that race was found to have both a direct and indirect effect on juvenile justice processing. The effects of race, age, gender, offense seriousness, prior record, and prior dispositions were examined with respect to intake screening decisions, detention status, referral to court, adjudication, and disposition. Legal factors (e.g., seriousness of offense and priors) were most significant, but the effects of race were compounded as juveniles penetrated deeper into the juvenile justice system.
The Incarceration of Minority Youth April 1987. By Barry Krisberg, Ira Schwartz, Gideon Fishman, Zvi Eisikovits, Edna Guttman, and Karen Joe. In Crime and Delinquency 33:173-205. Available from Sage Publications, Inc., 2455 Teller Rd., Thousand Oaks, CA 91320; 805/499-0721.
A review of national data on incarcerated minority youth shows increasing numbers of minority youth in secure facilities, according to this article. Minority youth are incarcerated in public juvenile correctional facilities at rates three to four times that of whites. An examination of FBI data and self-report data indicates that minority youth are somewhat more likely than white youngsters to be involved in serious crime, but not to the extent sufficient to explain the differential incarceration rates. The article suggests the need for further research and the need for public officials to begin testing new strategies to reduce the trend of more minority youth growing up behind bars.
Search and Destroy: African-American Males in the Criminal Justice System 1996. By Jerome Miller. Available from Cambridge University Press, 40 West 20th St., New York, New York 10011; 212/924-3900.
In a wide ranging survey, the author describes widespread bias among police officers, probation officers and courts. The author contends that the "war on drugs" begun during the Reagan administration has resulted in an explosion of the disproportionate number of African-American males in the criminal justice system. He contends that the drug war’s racial bias has exacerbated an already present prejudice throughout the criminal justice system. Although the book emphasizes criminal justice system processing, the author briefly reports on the studies revealing racial disparities in handling youths in the juvenile justice system and explores the effect of the war on drugs on African-American males in the juvenile justice system.
Race to Incarcerate 1999. By Marc Mauer. Available from The New Press, 450 West 41st Street, 6th Floor New York, N.Y. 10036 or contact: 1-800/233-4830.
This book by Marc Mauer, Assistant Director of The Sentencing Project, explores the intersection of race and class that underpins current politics and crime policy. Although primarily an examination of the adult criminal justice system, the author also discusses juvenile arrest and incarceration rates.
Youth Crime/Adult Time: Is Justice Served? October 2000. By Jolanta Juszkiewicz. Available online from Building Blocks for Youth: http://www.buildingblocksforyouth.org/ycat.
This report by the Pretrial Services Resource Center showed that 82% of the youth charged in adult court in 18 of the largest jurisdictions in the country were youth of color. Nearly two-thirds of all youth who were detained before trial were held in adult jails, and one-third of those were held in the general population with adult inmates. African-American (43%) and Latino (37%) youth were more likely than White youth (26%) to receive a sentence of incarceration.
State Data on DMC and Racial Disparities
Additional Analyses of Minority Overrepresentation in West Virginia March 1997. By Donna Hamparian. Available from Community Research Associates, Inc., 309 West Clark Street, Champaign, IL 61820; 217/398-3120.
This report of 27 counties showed that African-American youth were overrepresented in 13 of the 27 sample counties; in commitments to the Department of Corrections in 13 of the sample counties; and in out of state placements in nine of the sample counties. That data revealed that the overrepresentation of African-American youth began at arrest. It increased at detention where African-American youth accounted for 30% of the secure detentions in the sample counties; and increased even more to commitments to the Department of Corrections where African-American youth accounted for 39% of all DOC commitments from the 27 sample counties.
An Identification and Assessment Study of Disproportionate Minority Confinement (DMC) in Colorado March 1998. Prepared by OMNI Research and Training, Inc. Available from Omni Research and Training, Inc., 104 Broadway #500, Denver, CO 80203; 303/722-4969.
According to this report, African-American and Hispanic youths are overrepresented in the juvenile justice system. Of the four jurisdictions studied (City and County of Denver, El Paso County, City of Lakewood and Mesa County), African-American youth showed the greatest overrepresentation. Although African-American youth made up 4% of the general population, they made up 14% of arrests, 26% of direct files, 32% of Youthful Offender System admissions, and 38% of Department of Corrections Admissions. For Hispanic youths who represented 21% of the general population, they comprised 43% of Youthful Offender System admissions and 31% of Department of Corrections Admissions.
Assessment of Minority Representation in 26 Illinois County Juvenile Justice Systems July 1996. Prepared by the Illinois Criminal Justice information Authority’s Research and Analysis Unit. Available from the Illinois Department of Human Services, 1112 South Wabash Avenue, 3rd Floor, Chicago, IL 60605; 312/793-2748.
This report showed disproportionately large representation of minority youth at various juvenile justice decision points in counties throughout the state. The predominant pattern was that of overrepresentation of minority youth in confinement, especially African-Americans, with smaller overrepresentation relative to representation at earlier points of juvenile justice processing. The study suggested that overrepresentation tends to cumulate as minority youth proceed through the system.
Disproportionate Minority Confinement: Lessons Learned from Five States December 1998. By Patricia Devine, Kathleen Coolbaugh, and Susan Jenkins. Available online from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention: http://www.ncjrs.org/94612.pdf.
In examining the experiences of the five states participating in the DMC initiative (Arizona, Florida, Iowa, North Carolina, and Oregon), the study found DMC outcomes varied by state and community. However, the most important effect was a greater understanding within the pilot states of the complexity and pervasiveness of DMC and the development of model programs to address its causes.
Kentucky Disproportionate Minority Confinement Initiative Interim Report March 2000. By Randy Thomas. Available from Community Research Associates, Inc., 309 West Clark Street, Champaign, IL 61820; 217/398-3120.
This report marks the first step toward addressing DMC in Kentucky, as the state had been out of compliance with the DMC mandate for failure to remove youth from adult jails and lockups. Based on the report, the state’s youth of color are overrepresented in juvenile facilities and throughout the juvenile justice system. In 1999, 41% of the youth admitted to detention were youth of color, a rate four times greater than their percentage of the general population. Recommendations include research and data collection and planning around intervention activities.
1999 Juvenile Justice Report March 2000. Prepared by Office of Juvenile Justice.
Available from Governor’s Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee, PO Box 45203, Olympia, WA; 360/407-0151.
In this comprehensive state report, the juvenile justice data show that overrepresentation increases for minorities at the detention stage and more than doubles at the commitment to juvenile corrections stage (minority youth in the Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration (JRA) comprised 46% of the population in 1999). Minority youth age 10-17 comprise approximately 22 percent of the general population, yet they represented 32 percent of the youth held in detention in 1998. While there has been a gradual decline in the number of minority youth held in detention facilities in comparison to the 1998 data, the number of minority youth held in state correctional facilities continues to rise. In 1999, African-American youth were confined in state juvenile correctional institutions almost five times their proportion of the general population in 1999 (African-American youth represented 4% of the youth population and 19% of the population in JRA in 1999).
The Color of Justice: An Analysis of Juvenile Adult Court Transfers in California January 2000. By Mike Males and Dan Macallair. Available online from Building Blocks for Youth: http://www.buildingblocksforyouth.org/colorofjustice.
From the Justice Policy Institute, this study is the first analysis of racial and ethnic disparity in the transfer of youth to adult court and sentencing to California Youth Authority facilities. The study reveals that youth of color are 8.3 times more likely than white youth to be sentenced by an adult court to imprisonment in a California Youth Authority facility.
Drugs and Disparity: The Racial Impact of Illinois’ Practice of Transferring Young Drug Offenders to Adult Court. April 2000. By Jason Ziedenberg. Available online from Building Blocks for Youth: http://www.buildingblocksforyouth.org/illinois.
The study analyzed data from state criminal justice agencies in Illinois and national corrections databases. It concludes that Illinois’ practice of automatically sending 15 and a 16-year-old youth charged with drug crimes to adult court has produced one of the most racially disparate outcomes in the nation. Of the 259 youth automatically transferred to adult court from Cook County last year, only one was White. Over 99% of the Cook County youth automatically transferred to the adult court for drug crimes were non-White.
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