How White Habitus has Influenced the Way We Look At Disproportionate Minority Contact

• In Event: Race, Racism, Crime and Justice

Abstract

The relative causes of Disproportionate Minority Contact; differential treatment and/or differential involvement, have been debated for decades. We suggest that arguments suggesting differential involvement are flawed in ignoring the consistent and severe discrimination of non-whites in society. We further suggest that white habitus is both the driving force in minority over representation in the juvenile justice system, as well as the primary causal factor in research suggesting differential involvement.

Authors

• Patrick Polasek, Benedictine University

• B. Mitchell Peck, University of Oklahoma

• Paul Ketchum, University of Oklahoma

• Patrick Washington, University of Illinois at Chicago