Deck 22: The Juvenile Justice System

Question 1

According to the textbook, discrimination is sometimes explained in terms of:

A) conflict theory
B) labeling theory
C) social learning theory
D) both a & b

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Most research on discrimination within the juvenile justice system has focused on discrimination against:

A) males
B) females
C) African Americans
D) Hispanics
E) lower-class juveniles

Answer 2

C

Question 3

At which of the following stages in the juvenile justice process are African Americans most overrepresented?

A) juvenile arrests
B) juveniles referred to juvenile court
C) cases formally processed by the juvenile court
D) juveniles adjudicated delinquent
E) confined juveniles

Answer 3

E

Question 4

Studies of racial discrimination within the juvenile justice system typically:

A) use several states for comparison
B) control for variables like seriousness of offense and prior record
C) focus on all the major decision points in the juvenile justice process
D) all of the above

Question 5

Which factors may explain discrimination against African Americans?

A) police more likely to patrol African American communities
B) African Americans are less able to afford private attorneys
C) some juvenile justice officials hold negative stereotypes of African Americans
D) all of the above

Question 6

_________ are the most important determinants of how juveniles are treated in the justice system.

A) Race and gender
B) Social class and race
C) Social class and gender
D) Seriousness of offense and prior record
E) Seriousness of offense and race

Question 7

According to discussion provided in the text, racial discrimination is less likely in:

A) highly professionalized police departments
B) rural areas, where the processes are more informal
C) arrests for minor crimes and drug abuse violations
D) none of the above

Question 8

In Chapter 22, Agnew and Brezina discuss the association between race and social class to illustrate:

A) police brutality
B) indirect discrimination
C) direct discrimination
D) social mobility

Question 9

What is the leading argument for why minorities are discriminated against in the juvenile justice system?

A) Discrimination is most likely in communities where minority group members are viewed as a threat to Whites.
B) Discrimination is most likely in communities with a low percentage of minority residents.
C) Discrimination is most likely in communities with low levels of crime.
D) none of the above

Question 10

State-initiated efforts designed to reduce the overrepresentation of minorities in the juvenile justice system include:

A) providing sensitivity training for police
B) increasing the representation of minorities in police and court systems
C) developing programs to reduce minority involvement in delinquency
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Question 11

Discrimination may be greatest for:

A) less serious crimes
B) serious crimes
C) homicides
D) serious property crimes

Question 12

Data on gender discrimination within the juvenile justice system suggest that:

A) females are more likely to be treated severely for many status offenses
B) males are more likely to be treated severely for many status offenses
C) females are more likely to be treated severely for serious crimes
D) males are more likely to be treated severely for drug crimes
E) none of the above

Question 13

Police discretion is greatest for which types of crime?

A) armed robbery
B) homicides
C) drug crimes
D) aggravated assault

Question 14

There is evidence that discrimination may be more likely when:

A) crime is intraracial
B) African Americans commit crimes against Whites
C) Whites commit crimes against Latinos
D) none of the above

Question 15

Whereas African Americans made up 16% of the juvenile population, in 2013 they accounted for ______ of all juvenile arrests.

A) 24%
B) 34%
C) 54%
D) 84%

Question 16

According to the textbook, there is discrimination against _______ juveniles, at least in certain communities.

A) lower-class
B) middle-class
C) upper-class
D) white

Question 17

Limited data suggest that the overrepresentation of African Americans in the juvenile justice system is partly due to the fact that:

A) African Americans have higher offending rates
B) African Americans are more involved in serious crimes
C) African Americans are discriminated against
D) all of the above

Question 18

According to the textbook, most crime is ____________.

A) interracial
B) intersecting
C) intraracial
D) introspective

Question 19

As discussed in the textbook, which population was majorly overrepresented in Santa Cruz County in the late 1990s?

A) Whites
B) African Americans
C) Latinos
D) Asians

Question 20

Which factor has a larger effect on how juveniles are treated once referred to juvenile court?

A) the economic status of the juvenile's neighborhood
B) the juvenile's social class
C) the crime rate of the juvenile's neighborhood
D) the juvenile's employment status

Question 21

Explain what it means for a group to be "overrepresented" in the juvenile justice system.

Question 22

Describe how criminologists typically study discrimination within the juvenile justice system.

Question 23

List the most important factors that affect the treatment of youth in the juvenile justice system.

Question 24

Identify the factor(s) that can reduce the extent of discrimination within police departments.

Question 25

Can discrimination exist if a researcher finds no difference in the way that similar African Americans and Whites are treated during arrest and court processing? Explain your answer.

Question 26

Explain what Agnew and Brezina mean when they talk about "indirect discrimination" in the juvenile justice process. Provide an example of indirect discrimination.

Question 27

Differentiate direct discrimination from indirect discrimination that can occur in the juvenile justice process. Provide two examples of indirect discrimination.

Question 28

What is direct discrimination? Provide an example of direct discrimination. Is direct discrimination more common in the juvenile justice system, or is indirect discrimination more common? Explain your position.

Question 29

Describe what actions are being taken by states to address the overrepresentation of minorities confined in detention centers and long-term institutions.

Question 30

Have states been successful in addressing the overrepresentation of minorities since the 2002 federal mandate? Discuss the progress that has been made over the past decade based on the findings from the National Research Council.

Question 31

From the text, indicate what conclusions can be made about class-based discrimination in the juvenile justice system.

Question 32

From the text, discuss gender-based discrimination in the juvenile justice system.

Question 33

Design a study to identify racial or gender discrimination in arrests. How would you modify the study to examine discrimination at various points in the juvenile justice process?

Question 34

In responding to discrimination, are the causes among race, class, and gender discrimination similar enough that a program or policy could address all three, or should there be multiple programs directed at each type of discrimination?

Question 35

Discuss racial disparities found in the juvenile justice system and provide a persuasive argument for or against racial discrimination as a cause of these disparities.

Question 36

According to Agnew and Brezina, what are the two most important determinants of how juveniles are treated in the justice system?

Question 37

How does the extent of discrimination vary by type of crime?

Question 38

Provide at least one reason why some studies fail to find evidence of discrimination.

Question 39

Explain how small amounts of discrimination at different points in the juvenile justice process can have a large overall effect.

Question 40

How did Santa Cruz County practitioners address the overrepresentation of Latinos in their juvenile justice system?