Citation

Weiner NL, Willie CV. Am. J. Sociol. 1971; 77(2): 199-210.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1971, University of Chicago Press)

DOI

10.1086/225096

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This paper examines decision making by juvenile officers, looking at the effects that race and socioeconomic status of the individual, and racial composition and socioeconomic status of his neighborhood, have on juvenile police disposition. Data from Washington, D.C., indicate little, if any, influence of any of these factors. An analysis of data from Syracuse, N.Y., using a variation of Blau's structural effects technique, likewise indicate no effect of any kind. It is suggested that the juvenile officer's discretion may be viewed as an example of enacted institutional change.