Benevolent Intervention or Oppression Perpetuated

Abstract

Recent efforts prompted by both federal legislation and private lawsuits have directed the attention of bureaucrats, researchers, and practitioners to the existence of a disturbing and persistent phenomenon: the overrepresentation of minorities among children in state custody. The 1988 reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 recognized and legitimized the disproportionate representation of minorities in secure confinement as a national problem. Lawsuits and research projects in several states have identified a similar problem within the dependency system. Research from both fields has identified potentially devastating consequences for children who are placed in state custody by either system. These consequences may be devastating not only for individual children, but may actually serve to perpetuate many of the conditions generated by oppressive histories such as slavery, discriminatory immigration practices, and prejudicial legislation. These issues are critical not only to the nation, but to social work, whose code of ethics mandates advocacy for oppressed groups.