Explaining Ethnic Inequality in the Juvenile Justice System: An Analysis of the Outcomes of Dutch Prosecutorial Decision Making

• NCJ Number: 227116
• Journal: British Journal of Criminology Volume: 49 Issue: 2 Dated: March 2009 Pages: 220-242
• Author(s): Don Weenink
• Date Published: March 2009
• Length: 23 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

This paper sought to explain the ethnic inequality in prosecutorial decisionmaking in the Dutch juvenile justice system.

Abstract

The prevailing source of the ethnic unequal treatment lay in the reporting of troublesome encounters between judicial officials and suspects from ethnic minority decent. The qualitative analysis of 97 descriptions of troublesome encounters showed that native Dutch suspects were more often regarded as defiant, while ethnic minorities were more often perceived as equivocating. The analyses suggest that the greater the perceived cultural distance between ethnic minorities and judicial officials, the more severe the punishment. Most studies of the treatment of minorities in criminal justice systems show that ethnic minorities were punished more harshly. This study focused on the outcomes of decisionmaking by Dutch public prosecutors. The central question was: Does the ethnic descent of juvenile suspects play a role in the outcome of Dutch public prosecutors' decisionmaking and, if so, how? Tables, references, and appendix