NCJ Number
175735
Date Published
1998
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This study examined the processing of juveniles through the juvenile justice system of a jurisdiction that encompassed two rural counties in New Mexico where the numerical majority of the population was Hispanic/Mexican American.
Abstract
Data came from six focus groups (three composed of girls and three of boys). There were 44 participants, with ages that ranged from 14 to 18 years. The focus groups addressed how the juveniles interpreted their environment and how trouble, sexual behavior, education, and the future were shaped by their experiences. Propositions derived from cultural and structural theories of juvenile behavior guided the analysis. The findings did not fully support either of the theory types, suggesting an alternative approach that combines mainstream and ghetto specific norms. Respondents showed an awareness and even endorsement of ideal social norms, while apparently supporting behaviors that deviate from them as ways of coping in their environment. Respondents also specified local norms that regulate deviant behavior, and participants distinguished between how the neighborhood and their lives are viewed from the outside by the larger society and how they experience it themselves and resist outside labeling. The participants had a clear view of the limited opportunities available to them and the impact of the unfairness and discrimination of these conditions for the future of the community and themselves. A combination of theoretical perspective fits these patterns more closely than either of the guideline theories. Overall, the findings show that the young participants have not rejected the ideal values of the dominant culture, but they need proof that these norms will work. In line with Gans' theory, effective change in slum neighborhoods implies that structural constraints be reduced as a precondition for successful resocialization of deviant norms, and that, because deviant norms emerge through long-term reinforcement, the undoing of such norms will be lengthy and will depend on experiential verification that the original constraints have been removed. 2 tables, 3 notes, and 101 references