Abstract
The pervasiveness of disparities related to race and class is an important topic in the juvenile justice systems. The current research examines perceptions of juvenile probation officers around disparities related to race and class in the juvenile justice system. A number of theoretical and methodological approaches are discussed in the literature review. A conceptual framework of intersectionality is used as an analytic technique to examine the simultaneous interplay of race and class and its impact on disparities related to race and class in the juvenile justice system. The sample of juvenile probation officers has been drawn from a department of corrections for a county employer located in an urban community with the Midwestern United States. A total of 17 juvenile probation officers responded to the 24-item survey. Descriptive and inferential statistics were generated for the collected data. Chi-square analyses were generated to examine the associations between the levels of agreeableness for variables. The findings yielded minimal contributions to the current research due to the low amount of participants. However, despite the low amount of participants, there were two significant associations between variables. The findings had implications for practice, policies, and research in the fields of social work and corrections. The limitations to this current research encourage new research designs capturing greater participation rates while the strengths provide groundwork for future research capturing data regarding disparities related to race and class in the juvenile justice system.