Deadline, Vengeance, and Tribute

Abstract

Young people are rebelling against the hypocrisy of a society that sets certain values and then lives up to their opposite. Young black offenders can find few good examples inside or outside their community, while the conditions which make delinquent acts an attractive choice are created and maintained by the entire society. The strategy set up by the society to contain black juve .nile delinquency has three elements: the deadline—keeping blacks in black neighborhoods; vengeance—a judicial and con finement system that punishes and does not rehabilitate; and tribute—programs to buy off trouble temporarily. This strategy has worked only in the sense of making poor blacks the most frequent victims of black juvenile crime. The blame for the strategy's failure to reduce crime has been placed on the black culture rather than the society that devised the strategy and carries it out.