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3 - Disproportionate minority confinement

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 August 2009

William Arroyo
Affiliation:
LA County Department of Mental Health Child, Youth and Family Administration 550 S. Vermont Avenue, Third Floor Los Angeles, CA 90020 USA
Carol L. Kessler
Affiliation:
Columbia University, New York
Louis James Kraus
Affiliation:
Rush University, Chicago
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Summary

Disproportionate minority confinement generally refers to the disproportionate percentage of minority youth or one group of youth confined in juvenile detention facilities relative to the percentage of youth found in the local or surrounding jurisdiction. The term, disproportionate minority confinement (DMC), has been the preferred term in the juvenile justice system since the late 1980s. When the reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice Delinquency and Prevention (JJDP) Act (2002) was passed, the Act mandated states to address: “juvenile delinquency prevention efforts and system improvement efforts designed to reduce, without establishing or requiring numerical standards or quotas, the disproportionate number of juvenile members of minority groups who come into contact with the juvenile justice system.” This is different from the previous act in that the requirement is broadened from “confinement” to “contact” by requiring states to examine possible disproportionate representation of minority youth at all decision points along the juvenile justice system continuum.

Other terms used to refer to this pattern of practice include “overrepresentation,” “disparity,” and “discrimination.” Overrepresentation exists when, at various stages of the juvenile justice system, the proportion of a certain population exceeds its proportion in the general population. Disparity refers to a situation in which different groups have different probabilities that certain outcomes will occur. Disparity may in turn lead to overrepresentation. Discrimination refers to differential decision-making among juvenile justice professionals affecting different groups of juveniles based on their gender, racial, and/or ethnic identity.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Mental Health Needs of Young Offenders
Forging Paths toward Reintegration and Rehabilitation
, pp. 48 - 60
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2007

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References

Community Research Associates (1990). Disproportionate Minority Confinement, Technical Assistance Manual. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
Hsia, H. M. & Hamparian, D. (1998). Disproportionate Minority Confinement, 1997. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
Hsia, H. M., Bridges, G. S. & McHale, R. (2004). Disproportionate Minority Confinement, Update 2002. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention (JJDP) Act of 1974 (1992, 2002) (P.L. 93-415, 42 USC 5601 et seq.) as amended.
Lynch, J. (2002). Trends in Juvenile Violent Offending: An Analysis of Victim Survey Data. Bulletin. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (1998, 2001). Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement 1997 and 1999. Washington, DC: US Bureau of the Census.
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (2000). Disproportionate Minority Confinement Technical Assistance Manual, 2nd edn. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
Males, M. & Macallair, D. (2000). The Color of Justice: An Analysis of Juvenile Adult Court Transfers in California. Washington, DC: Building Blocks for Youth.
Nellis, A. M. (2005). Seven Steps to Develop and Evaluate Strategies to Reduce Disproportionate Minority Confinement. Washington, DC: Justice Research and Statistics Association, Juvenile Justice Evaluation Center.
Poe-Yamagata, E. & Jones, M. (2000) And Justice for Some: Differential Treatment of Minority Youth in the Justice System. Washington, DC: Youth Law Center.
Pope, C. E. & Feyerherm, W. (1990) Minority status and juvenile justice processing. Criminal Justice Abstracts, 22(2), 327–336 (part I); 22(3), 527–542 (part II).Google Scholar
Pope, C. E. & Snyder, H. (2002). Race As a Factor in Juvenile Arrests. Bulletin. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
Pope, C. E., Lovell, R. & Hsia, H. M. (2002) Disproportionate Minority Confinement: A Review of the Research Literature From 1989 Through 2001. Bulletin. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
Sickmund, M. (2004). Juveniles in Corrections. Bulletin. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
Snyder, H. N. (2003). Juvenile Arrests 2001. Bulletin. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
Snyder, H. N. & Sickmund, M. (2000). Minorities in the Juvenile Justice System, 1999. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
Villaruel, F. A. & Walker, N. E. (2002). Donde Esta la Justicia? A Call to Action on Behalf of Latino and Latina Youth in the U.S. Justice System. Washington, DC: Building Blocks for Youth.

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  • Disproportionate minority confinement
    • By William Arroyo, LA County Department of Mental Health Child, Youth and Family Administration 550 S. Vermont Avenue, Third Floor Los Angeles, CA 90020 USA
  • Edited by Carol L. Kessler, Columbia University, New York, Louis James Kraus, Rush University, Chicago
  • Book: The Mental Health Needs of Young Offenders
  • Online publication: 11 August 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511543913.004
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  • Disproportionate minority confinement
    • By William Arroyo, LA County Department of Mental Health Child, Youth and Family Administration 550 S. Vermont Avenue, Third Floor Los Angeles, CA 90020 USA
  • Edited by Carol L. Kessler, Columbia University, New York, Louis James Kraus, Rush University, Chicago
  • Book: The Mental Health Needs of Young Offenders
  • Online publication: 11 August 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511543913.004
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Disproportionate minority confinement
    • By William Arroyo, LA County Department of Mental Health Child, Youth and Family Administration 550 S. Vermont Avenue, Third Floor Los Angeles, CA 90020 USA
  • Edited by Carol L. Kessler, Columbia University, New York, Louis James Kraus, Rush University, Chicago
  • Book: The Mental Health Needs of Young Offenders
  • Online publication: 11 August 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511543913.004
Available formats
×