The over-representation of black youths in the juvenile justice system is a national problem. Several explanations beyond race have been offered for the disparate treatment. One is that the nature of bureaucratic structure of the juvenile court contributes to a pattern of biased, discretionary decision making which, in turn, is a causal factor in the disparity.;The purpose of this research is to identify the effects, if any, of discretion on racial disparity at the detention phase in Georgia's juvenile justice system. This study is a secondary data analysis comparing the juvenile court records of 3,277 male youths, black and white. An analysis of variance compared the difference between black and white youth and a regression model analyzed the effects of several legal, extra-legal, bureaucratic, and community expectation variables on disparate treatment.;Results suggest that though discretion may have an effect on racial disparity, it alone could not be considered the causal factor. In fact, discretion helped minority youths in many instances. Future research for public administration should attempt to further identify how discretion can best be used in bureaucratic functioning.
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