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8 JUVENILE AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Pages 151-174

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From page 151...
... The juvenile justice system that emerged early in this century included training and reform schools and other forms of institutionalization, but it also made frequent use of suspended sentences and probationary dispositions for the rehabilitation of delinquents in the community. Now, however, the juvenile justice system has many of the adversarial and punitive characteristics of the adult criminal justice system ;Krisberg et al., 19861.
From page 152...
... The U.S. Department of Justice's annual National Crime Survey, a nationwide residential survey of the general public about their experiences as victims of crime, shows that blacks experience rates of rape, aggravated assault, and armed robbery that are approximately 25 percent higher than those for whites, rates of motor vehicle theft that are about 70 percent higher, and rates of robbery victimization that are more than 150 percent higher.
From page 153...
... population and Hispanic Americans about 8 percent, but both groups are arrested for a higher proportion of serious crimes against persons. Blacks account for more than 40 percent of all homicides, forcible rapes, armed robberies, and aggravated assaults, and Hispanic Americans account for about 14 percent of these violent crimes against persons.
From page 154...
... First, race-linked patterns of discrimination, segregation, and concentrated poverty may produce pervasive family and community disadvantages, as well as educational and emp'1oyment Difficulties, that in turn cause high levels of delinquent and criminal behavior among young minority males. Second is the possibility that, at the hands of the juvenile ant]
From page 155...
... Ethnographic studies are especially persuasive in describing the ways in which concentrated poverty affects crime rates in minority neighborhoods jHagedorn, 1988; Anderson, 1991; Sullivan, 1989; Lehmann, 1991; Sanchez-lankowski, 1992~. Recent accounts emphasize the growth of the underground drug economy focused around gangs, which substitutes for and competes with the legitimate labor market in many minority low-income communities.
From page 156...
... Although these systems may have the ability to protect citizens in white communities and redirect adolescents who are from advantaged backgrounds, it is widely believed that the systems are far less effective in ghetto communities and with the ghetto youth who disproportionately are swept into the criminal justice system. In this view, the justice system is a source of new risks for urban minority youth- a view that is reinforced by research on the policing, prosecution, and punishment of blacks in both middle- and low-income neighborhoods.
From page 157...
... There are many plausible reasons for police perceptions of hostility by minority youths. The danger of violence in policing leads the police to treat large parts of the public as "symbolic assailants" iSkoInick, 19661, and young minority males are espe cially prone to this kind of stereotyped treatment.
From page 158...
... The "asymmetrical status norm" exists in part because the police represent the authority of the law and probably also because officers are usually older and of higher occupational status than the suspects they encounter. When minority youth are involved, their refusal to express deference may be viewed by the officer as a refusal to acknowledge assumed social obligations of all citizens and the officer's symbolic authority.
From page 159...
... cities found that antagonistic suspects are much more likely to be taken into custody than suspects who display deference, that black suspects are more likely to be arrested than whites, and that part of this race effect can be explained by the more hostile or antagonistic demeanor of black suspects {Smith, 1986J. Antagonism is a thread Chat Inn.
From page 160...
... Finally, the geographical distribution of police work underlines the links between racial discrimination and the concentration of poverty and crime in poor minority neighborhoods. It has been argued that densely populated settings increase anonymity and freedom from surveillance ant!
From page 161...
... That is, the contamination effect associated with offensible space results in the overpolicing of youth and adults from stigmatized areas. Contextual analysis of data from the Seattle Youth Study also reveals a strong inverse effect of neighborhood socioeconomic status iSES)
From page 162...
... These characteristics can include not only the seriousness of the offense and the amount and quality of evidence, but also the credibility of the victimisJ and offendertsJ as witnesses. Nonwhite victims tend to be considered less credible witnesses, while white victims, especially of nonwhite defendants, are considered highly credible.
From page 163...
... For example, state prisons hold 92 percent of our nation's inmates; in little more than a decade, commitments to prisons increased nationally nearly 2-1/2 times, from 96,073 in 1974 to 232,969 in 1986. During this entire period, the rate of incarceration for black Americans was more than six times the rate for whites ;Chilton and Galvin, 1985~.
From page 164...
... A number of efforts have been made over the past several clecades to reform sentencing practices in ways that would make discrimination less common. These include rules and guidelines for plea bargaining, mandatory minimum sentences, statutorily determined sentences, presumptive or prescriptive sentencing guidelines, and the establishment of sentencing councils.
From page 165...
... This should not be surprising, given the hostile attitudes toward the justice system in the community. It might also help explain the weak effects of delinquency prevention and other programs for minority youth.
From page 166...
... for many ghetto youth illegal markets offer culturally accepted lines of economic opportunity {Sullivan, 1989J, sometimes replacing or competing with legitimate labor markets {Freeman, 1991J. Sullivan {1989J notes that youth crime Provides otherwi.ce.
From page 167...
... The diversion of status offenders from the juvenile justice system is an encouraging step along these lines, but simply ignoring these troubled youth is not a promising policy alternative. The most effective treatment programs are applied outside of public facilities, custodial institutions, ant!
From page 168...
... 1970 Police control of juveniles. American Sociological Review 35:63-77.
From page 169...
... 1991 Destiny and drift: subcultural preferences, status attainments, and the risks and rewards of youth. American Sociological Review 56:567-582.
From page 170...
... American Sociological Review 41:432-442. 1991 Race, class and crime.
From page 171...
... Heimer 1987 Race, family structure and delinquency: a test of differential association and social control theories. American Sociological Review 52:826840.
From page 172...
... Laub 1990 Stability and change in crime and deviance over the life course: the salience of adult social bonds. American Sociological Review 55:609627.
From page 173...
... American Journal of Sociology 81:584-600. Thrasher, F
From page 174...
... 174 / Losing Generations: Adolescents in High-Risk Settings Wolfgang, M., and M Riedel 1973 Race, judicial discretion, and the death penalty.


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