Disproportionate minority contact in the U.S. juvenile justice system: a review of the DMC literature, 2001 to 2014, Part II

ABSTRACT

The current study provides a systematic review of 107 studies. Studies were drawn from academic journals, reports, and edited books from January 2001 to December 2014. The main question addressed by the review asks, ‘What does recent literature tell us about minority status and juvenile justice processing?’ The purpose of this article is to review recent studies that examine the roles that race and ethnicity play in the juvenile justice decision-making process. The results illustrate the overall complexity of the issues surrounding DMC. A matrix was developed to extract key features from each of the studies, which are presented in Part II. The study site, racial groups, decision points investigated, staged extracted, race effects, and results are included in the matrix.

KEYWORDS:

• DMC
• juvenile justice
• literature review

Disclosure statement

Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention or the U.S. Department of Justice.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded through Cooperative Agreement No. 2009–JF–FX–0103 from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Notes on contributors

Elizabeth Spinney

Elizabeth Spinney, MPP, has 15 year of experience in the field of DMC research, technical assistance, grant management, and policy. At Development Services Group, Inc. (DSG) in Bethesda, Maryland, Spinney was Project Director of the Training and Technical Assistance to End Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Juvenile Justice System project for OJJDP (2014-2017) and Deputy Project Director for DSG’s OJJDP study, Expanding the Use of Disproportionate Minority Contact (DMC) Data: Analysis of Patterns to Identify Best Practices (2009–2015). She was the Massachusetts DMC Coordinator from 2004 to 2008. Spinney also has experience working directly with at-risk youths, juvenile justice systems, states, and localities on the issue of delinquency, juvenile justice, and racial disparities.

Marcia Cohen

Marcia Cohen, MCP, is the president of DSG, a woman-owned firm in Bethesda, Md. Cohen is a program evaluator and manager with more than 30 years’ experience in the fields of juvenile justice and behavioral health. She is an expert in evidenced-based programs, and serves as the officer in charge for OJJDP’s Model Programs Guide and Program Manager for NIJ’s CrimeSolutions.gov. She authored two chapters of the OJJDP DMC Technical Assistance Manual and worked with Feyerherm to design the relative rate index (RRI) reporting system for state DMC coordinators. She has directed dozens of studies on DMC, delinquency, gangs, gender-specific programs, status offenders, and juvenile corrections.

William Feyerherm

William Feyerherm, Ph.D., is a professor of criminology and criminal justice and formerly the vice provost for Graduate Studies and Research at Portland State University. For the past 40 years, his research, writing, and advocacy work have focused on the role of race and culture in the justice process, particularly in juvenile justice. Feyerherm has been heavily involved in the redefinition, measurement, and implementation of the DMC portions of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act. In addition to making numerous presentations at national conferences, Feyerherm has served as a principal investigator and task leader on DSG’s DMC projects, and has provided technical assistance to more than a dozen states.

Rachel Stephenson

Rachel Stephenson, MA, is a research analyst for DSG. She is the project director for NIJ’s CrimeSolutions.gov and OJJDP’s Model Programs Guide. Her research interests include exploring issues around DMC, implementation science, translational criminology, and the aging inmate population.

Martha Yeide

Martha Yeide, Ph.D., is a former senior research analyst and project director at DSG. Yeide has extensive experience supporting the review process for evidence-based programs and practices for OJJDP’s Model Programs Guide, NIJ’s CrimeSolutions.gov, and ED’s What Works Clearinghouse. She has also served as deputy director for OJJDP’s National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention Training and Technical Assistance Program.

Tayler Shreve

Tayler Shreve, MA, is a doctoral student at the University of South Florida in the Criminology Department. Her research interests focus on racial/ethnic disparities and trends in the juvenile justice system and objective decision-making tools.