The State of Disproportionate Minority Incarceration (DMC) in Mississippi's Juvenile Detention Facilities

Abstract

Disproportionate Minority Confinement (DMC) has become a national issue due to several amendments to the JJDP Act of 1974 requiring compliance of all states participating in the formula grants program. All participating states, including the State of Mississippi, have thus introduced several programs to tackle the DMC problems in their various states for six years running. Giving these programmatic interventions, this study seeks to determine if DMC still exist in the juvenile detention facilities in the State of Mississippi. A survey instrument designed to measure racial composition of detainees was administered to the 18 juvenile facilities. The resulting data were compared with the States 2000 National Census data of juveniles by race. The study finds a strong evidence of DMC in the juvenile detention facilities of the State of Mississippi.