Description:

“Racial Disparities in South Carolina’s Juvenile Justice System: A Look at Truancy and Disturbing School,” by Dr. Patricia Stone Motes, Dr. Andrew Billingsley, Ms. Janice P. Rivers, and Dr. Chaundrissa Oyeshiku Smith, researches currently or formerly affiliated with the Institute for Families in Society at the University of South Carolina, examine the complexities of understanding racial disparities in the state’s juvenile justice system by analyzing the offenses of truancy and disturbing school. Both offenses have a major impact on determining which youths are in the juvenile justice system, and thus which ones are likely to end up incarcerated as adults. More than 50% of youths who go through the juvenile justice system are later incarcerated in prison as adults. Thus, a truancy or disturbing school offense can be the first step toward adult imprisonment.