Juvenile Justice

I. Underlying issues that manifest minority disparity in the juvenile justice system.

II. Disproportionate Minority Representation

III. Delbert Elliott’s Integrated Theory

IV. Substance Abuse as a High Risk Factor

V. School Dropout Rates as a High Risk Factor

Overrepresentation in the Juvenile Justice System

The overrepresentation of minorities in the juvenile justice system represents the push by law enforcement and legislators to crack down on juvenile crime. However, incarcerating juveniles is only a quick-fix to the real root of the problem of overrepresentation of minorities in the juvenile justice system. This problem is broad and primarily stems from social issues that manifest juvenile issues among minorities. Such issues as high drug use, high crime, poor education and limited occupational opportunities in impoverished urban cities where a high percentage of U.S. minorities live fuel juvenile crime. As Karen Shepard writes, “Poverty, segregation and environments that do not allow youths to develop their potentials are the most common causes of disproportionate minority confinement” (114). Current legislation and law enforcement practices i

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em expert argues, “Without question, intensive training of both law enforcement and juvenile justice practitioners must provide education, foster sensitivity and promote the understanding of cultural, racial and ethnic differences” (Shepard 115). Until the processing of minority youth cases is changed, the juvenile justice system will not improve. Delbert Elliott’s Integrated Theory: Delbert Elliot’s Integrated Theory helps us understand one reason for the high number of minority youths incarcerated in the U.S. The theory argues that there are two basic pathways to delinquency. The first asserts that individuals who are low in social control tend to get involved in activities with delinquent peers, which then in turn increases their own likelihood of engaging in a pattern of sustained delinquency. In the second pathway, individuals high in social control have certain “experiences which weaken their level of control, with the failure to achieve conventional goals being one such experience” (Cullen and Agnew 212). Individuals may then become involved with delinquent peers and turn to delinquency. In the high crime communities where many minorities live, one can see how this increases the risk factor for delinquency.
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Approximate Word count = 2349
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)

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