The Contexts of Juvenile Justice Decision Making

by Leiber, Michael J.

• ISBN13: 9780791457672
• ISBN10: 0791457672
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-09-01
• Publisher: State Univ of New York Pr

Summary

Explores the contexts of judges' decision making in juvenile courts that incarcerate disproportionately more minorities than whites. An in-depth examination of the contextual nature of decision making and the causes of disproportionate minority confinement in four relatively homogenous juvenile courts in lowa, this book explores the subjective social psychological processes of juvenile court officers and the factors that influence those processes. Iowa, although a state with a predominantly white population, has one of the highest minority incarceration rates for juveniles. Michael J. Leiber focuses on the relationships between adherence to correctional orientations (such as retribution and rehabilitation) and decision-makers' views concerning race, crime, family, and respect for authority with judgments and differential outcomes for youth. Quantitative and qualitative methodologies are used to determine the extent to which correctional ideologies and decision-makers' stereotyping of minorities are fueled by a wide range of contingencies, the impact of case processing and outcomes of whites, African Americans, and Native Americans, and how it varies by Jurisdiction.

Author Biography

Michael J. Leiber is Professor of Criminology at the University of Northern Iowa

Table of Contents

Foreword	vii
Preface	xi
Acknowledgments	xv
Chapter 1. Disproportionate Minority Confinement (DMC)	1	(10)
Chapter 2. Understanding DMC	11	(16)
Chapter 3. Correctional Orientations, Race, Crime, Family, and Respect for Authority	27	(18)
Chapter 4. Methods	45	(14)
Chapter 5. Movement through the Juvenile Justice System	59	(14)
Chapter 6. The Influence of Legal and Extralegal Factors on Decision Making	73	(18)
Chapter 7. Accountability and Intervention	91	(14)
Chapter 8. Rehabilitation, Protection of Society, and Adherence to Middle-Class Values	105	(16)
Chapter 9. Formal Rationalized Justice and Nonintervention	121	(12)
Chapter 10. Dysfunctional Family, Subcultural Values, Lack of Resources, and Rehabilitation	133	(14)
Chapter 11. Summary and Conclusions	147	(26)
Appendixes	173	(14)
Notes	187	(10)
Bibliography	197	(24)
Index	221