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DMC Definition

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the federal office within the Department of Justice that deals with the juvenile justice system and DMC; defines Disproportionate Minority Confinement as follows:

“Under the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act,

Disproportionate minority confinement exists when the proportion of youths detained or confined in secure detention facilities, secure correctional facilities, jails and lockups who are members of minority groups exceed their groups’ proportions in the general population.” Disproportionate Minority Contact “addresses the overrepresentation of minority youth in the juvenile justice system at all points in the juvenile justice process”.

For purposes of this requirement, OJJDP has defined minority populations as
American Indian and Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Hispanic
or Latino, and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islanders. (Indiana Disproportionality Committee Glossary of Terms http://www.in.gov/cji/youth/
compliance/glossary.pdf) Many of the states who are working under the OJJDP and other agencies to address DMC use this definition, but some reports indicate the need to adjust the definition to specific communities in order to refrain from overgeneralization regarding DMC situations in different areas. Most states seem to use the official OJJDP definition, with occasional additions to address individual communities or areas.

DMC Significance

Working definition of DMC

Disproportionate Minority Contact refers to the overrepresentation of people of color at every stage of the criminal justice system, from arrest and detention to probation, incarceration, and parole. Overrepresentation exists when the percentage of persons of color present at various stages of the criminal justice system exceeds their proportion in the general population For example, in excess of 2 million Americans are now behind bars, the highest number in the history of the U.S. as well as the highest rate of incarceration in the world. Of the 2 million Americans, approximately 587, 000 are African American males.

 

Why does DMC matter?

Although incarceration affects our entire society, the impact is heaviest on people of color, specifically African American males. Moreover, while the 2000 census count indicated that 75.1 percent of the total U.S. population was White (which of color, specifically African American males. Moreover, while the 2000 census count indicated that 75.1 percent of the total U.S. population was White (which includes non-white Hispanics who represent about 12 percent of the population in 2000), and 12.3 percent were African-American, one out of every seven African- American males between the ages of 25 to 29 were in prisons or jails in 2001, compared to one in twenty-four Hispanic males, and one in fifty white males of the same ages. According to Pollock (2004) in the space of less than one hundred years, African Americans and Hispanic males went from being about 30 percent of the prison population to about 70 percent. Likewise, in virtually every state African- American males as well as other persons of color are over-represented in the criminal justice system, especially in secure institutional settings. The following statistics from the Bureau of Justice Statistics illustrate this point.

JAILS


• At mid year 2004 nearly 6 in 10 persons in local jails were ethnic minorities.
  
  
• White males made up 44.4% of the jail population; African-American males
  38.6%; Hispanics, 15.2%; and other races (Asians, American Indians, Alaska
  Natives, Native Hawaiians, and other Pacific Islanders) males, 1.8%.
  
  
• African-American males were nearly 5 times more likely than White males,
  nearly 3 times more likely than Hispanic males, and over 8 times more likely
  than persons of other races to have been in jail.
  
  

PROBATION


• At year end 2003, 1 to 5 probationers were women; 1 in 3 were African-
  American
  
  
• At year end 2003 more than half of all probationers were white; almost a
  third were African-American; and a eighth were of Hispanic origin.
  

PRISONS


• There were more black males than White males among State and Federal
  inmates at yearend 2003.
  
  
• At year end 2003, African-American inmates represented an estimated 44%
  of all inmates with sentences of more than 1 year, while white inmates
  accounted for 35% and Hispanic inmates, 19%.
  
  
• During the same time period, African-American males outnumbered white
  males and Hispanic males among inmates with sentences of more than 1
  year, more than 44% of all sentenced male inmates were African-American.
  
  

PAROLE


• About 41% of adults on parole in December 31, 2003 were African-
  American and 40% were White.
  

Some scholars argue that if current trends continue, more African-American
children are likely to go to prison than to college when they grow up. As well, Marc Maurer predicts that if the current trends continue, one in four African American males will be under some form of correctional supervision. While it might appear that such mass incarceration reduces crime, quite the contrary, as research by Rose and Clear suggest that high concentrations of incarceration may well have a negative impact on public safety by leaving communities less capable of sustaining the formal social control that under grids public safety. Moreover, they argue that incarceration destabilizes communities making them more vulnerable to crime. As such, Clear outlines three "crime-enhancing effects of prison" on poor communities and people of color.