Disparities in Juvenile Justice Processing of African-American Males in Champaign County, IL. 1998-1999.

Disparities in Juvenile Justice Processing of African-American Males in Champaign County, IL. 1998-1999.

Juvenile Justice

The study investigated the frequency of arrest and sentencing outcomes of
African-American male youth in comparison to their White counterparts in
Champaign County, 1998 through 1999. The study included juveniles between
the ages of 10 and 17. The juvenile population was divided into three ethnic
categories for this study-White, African-American, and Other. The juveniles
studied consisted of male youth w!1o experienced some form of contact with the
Champaign-Urbana police. These juveniles were either arrested or taken into
police custody for alleged criminal activity. Juveniles adjudicated delinquent,
placed on probation, and incarcerated in Champaign County were also identified
for this study.
This study was based on an analysis of the contingency table and chisquare
tests that involved collecting data on male youth at different points in the
juvenile justice system. The data collected identified the age and race of juveniles
who had police contact. A chi-square test determined that there was a statistical
significance of difference for the variables of race, age, and number of police
contacts. Crime patterns were explored for all youth arrested and data were
examined using frequency tables to compare the crime patterns between White
and African-American male youth. Also identified was the frequency of
adjudication between African-American and White male youth. The limitation of
data prohibited this researcher from testing the significance of variables such as
crime, gender, ethnicity, and adjudication outcomes. However, a chi-square test
was used to analyze the significance of race and year. A statistically significant
positive association was found between year and race.
The researcher sought to determine the significance in the incarceration!
probation of African-American and White male youth. Chi-square tests were
conducted with the assumption that there was no significant difference between
incarcerated African-American and White male youth. Descriptive statistics were
used to determine factors that are consistent in incarceration for both 1998 and
1999.
The study examined the "risk indicator" of incarcerated youth. In particular,
the study sought to compare the characteristics of incarcerated African-American
and White male youth.
iv

Erica Marcia Collins

unpublished doctoral dissertation, Education

2000

No