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Disproportionate Minority Contact



A MODULE FOR DEMOCRACY/CIVIC MISSION CLASSROOMS

Overview
Focus Questions
Objectives
Materials
Download Unit [pdf]


Overview

Throughout the United States, a disproportionate percentage of racial minorities become caught up in the juvenile and criminal justice systems. It would be easy to simply attribute this large discrepancy to the notion that people of different racial groups commit different types of crimes. Yet data suggests that this is not the case, particularly among young people.

Disproportionate minority contact (DMC) raises difficult issues for the American criminal justice system. It threatens victim cooperation with police and prosecutors, the participation of minority jurors, and the validity of judicial decisions among members of minority and majority communities alike. Most fundamentally, it challenges the basic American assumption that everyone receives "equal justice under law."

This unit highlights two different aspects of disproportionate minority contact. It examines the practice of racial profiling which some experts consider as the major cause of disproportionate traffic stops on minorities and a resulting skew in the racial composition of those charged, convicted and incarcerated. It also explores current trends and controversies relating to juveniles in detention, particularly the disproportionate number of minority youth in confinement despite arrest rates similar to those of white offenders.


Focus Questions


Objectives


Materials

A. The Limits of Authority: Racial Profiling
B. What Should Be Done About Profiling?
C. Responding to Disproportionate Minority Contact
D. Looking at Public Policy: G R A D E
E. Juvenile Justice: Current Trends and Controversies
F. Disproportionate Minority Contact: Suggested Service Projects
Disproportionate Minority Contact: Selected Internet Resources

Last updated: September 15, 2006

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