Confinement in the United States

Disproportionate Minority Contact and Confinement in relation to Crime and Race

Disproportionate Minority Contact and Confinement is included in the Encyclopedia of Race and Crime (1), beginning with: Disproportionate minority contact is the unequal involvement and participation of minorities with agents of the criminal justice system such as police officers, judges, and probation officers. Disproportionate minority confinement is the unbalanced incapacitation of minorities in secure detention facilities, jails, and prisons. Contact and confinement statistics are considered disproportionate when a higher percentage of a population is present in criminal justice than the proportion in the general population. Overrepresentation of minorities is examined through discretionary decision points of the system (e.g., arrest, sentencing) with the understanding that no single decision creates disproportional statistics; rather it is a cumulative effect of all decisions. This section provides an explanation of disproportional involvement and treatment along with statistics on adult and juvenile populations. Evaluation of police and court practices will offer a substantive and procedural background on disproportionate minority contact and confinement.

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Notes and References

1. Entry about Disproportionate Minority Contact and Confinement in the Encyclopedia of Race and Crime

See Also

Confinement in the Criminal Justice System

This section covers the topics below related with Confinement :

Juvenile Justice

Confinement in relation with Confinement

Corrections

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See Also

• Juvenile Justice
• Confinement
• Corrections