Date
12-7-2023
Department
Helms School of Government
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy in Criminal Justice (PhD)
Chair
Latreace Flynt
Keywords
correctional officer, juvenile offenders, correctional facility, perceptions, race, racial discrimination
Disciplines
Leadership Studies
Recommended Citation
Reid, Jervaughn Fabian, "The Perceived Racial Discrimination of Incarcerated African American Juveniles by Correctional Officers" (2023). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 5032.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/5032
Abstract
There is an overrepresentation of African American youths at every stage of the juvenile justice system in America, from initial interaction with criminal justice to sentencing and imprisonment. This quantitative correlational study aimed to study the perceived racial discrimination of incarcerated African American juveniles by correctional officers. Statistics indicate that African Americans have a higher probability of offending and incarceration than their White counterparts. Some juveniles are serving long-term sentences, which may go well into adulthood. This study offers general knowledge on what experiences juvenile offenders go through, what promotes such experiences, and how these experiences can affect the population of interest. First, the results of this study may play a significant role in informing the criminal justice system of the United States on reforms to improve the criminal justice system of the United States to ensure desirable outcomes. The researcher used a correlational research design to describe correctional officers' perceived racial discrimination against incarcerated African American juveniles. The population of interest in this study comprises juvenile correctional officers with work experience of at least one year or above. The researcher selected a sample size of one hundred correctional officers using snowball sampling. The researcher administered a research survey through email to correctional officers working in juvenile facilities within New York State. The data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. The researcher used the Pearson’s correlation coefficient test to measure the statistical relationship between correctional officers’ perceptions of discrimination and race and between correctional officers’ perceptions of discrimination and years of experience.
