Juveniles

14 Pages 3489 Words

essing throughout the state between January 1, 1985 and December 31, 1987. Because Florida law requires that all juvenile complaint reports be processed through the intake division, the data set is quite comprehensive and includes records of all police contacts other than those resulting in informal field adjustments, as well as referrals from parents, school officials, and other non-police sources (Bishop; Frazier). The case records were organized to permit tracking of decisions made at multiple stages in processing, from initial intake through judicial disposition.
Analysis indicates that among those referred for delinquent acts, a greater proportion of nonwhites than whites received the more severe disposition at each successive stage in processing. Racial disparities are most pronounced at intake screening and judicial disposition. For example, 53% of nonwhite youths referred to intake are recommended for referral to court, compared to 42% of white youths (Bishop; Frazier). At judicial disposition, 31% of nonwhite youths are incarcerated or transferred, compared to 18% of white youths (Bishop; Frazier). The cumulative effect of these decisions is that the racial composition of the cohort becomes increasingly nonwhite as it moves through the system: while nonwhites make up 21% of the population at risk (ages ten to seventeen) and 29% of the cohort referred to delinquency intake, they make up 44% of the cohort incarcerated or transferred (Bishop; Frazier).
For status offenses, on the other hand, the picture is quite different. The analysis’ last three comparisons show that there is evidence of racial disparity in processing which suggests a tendency to treat whites more harshly than nonwhites. At intake, decisions are made to refer to court slightly greater proportions of white status offenders than nonwhite status offenders. Although the proportions of whites and nonwhites receiving judicial dispositions of residential p...