Juvenile Justice in America

A1 . What do you believe can be done about racial disparity in the juvenile justice system

I feel that sensitivity training of those individuals responsible for administering the juvenile justice system would help reduce racial disparity . Also , targeting judges responsible for systematic racial discrepancies in sentencing would help as well

A2 . What are the two major problems with cohort studies

One problem is the inability to pre-screen members of the cohorts for possible variables outside the scope of the study . A Second difficulty lies with the possibility of observer bias in

cohort studies . Selective attention to certain traits in the subject group could skew empirical data

A3 . What can self-report studies tell us that official accounts of youth crime cannot

Self-report gives far more insight as to motive than do official reports . They also give better numbers statistically , as they include those who have not been apprehended in a criminal act

A4 .Go to the Bureau of Justice Statistics at http /www .ojp .usdoj .gov and look at juvenile crime statistics . Is the information provided on juvenile crime what you expected or what you believed to be true about juvenile crime ? Why or why not

I did not expect the large proportion of serious crime done by juveniles under the age of 15 . I expected that older teens would be responsible for a higher proportion of these acts . In 2006 , 1 /3 of violent crimes committed by juveniles were perpetrated by youths under 15 years of age .B1 . Critics of...