“That’s My Number One Fear in Life. It’s the Police”: Examining Young Black Men’s Exposures to Trauma and Loss Resulting From Police Violence and Police Killings

Abstract

Black males are disproportionately the victims of police killings in the United States, yet few studies have examined their personal narratives of trauma and bereavement resulting from police violence. Informed by critical race theory and stress and coping theory, we used a modified grounded theory approach to conduct and analyze in-depth, semistructured life history interviews with 40 young Black men (aged 18-24 years) in Baltimore, Maryland. Study participants were recruited from a GED and job readiness center serving Baltimore youth. Study results offer a nuanced understanding of the patterning and mental health consequences of police violence for young Black men. Participant disclosures of witnessing and experiencing police violence began in childhood and spanned through emerging adulthood, met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders–Fifth Edition criteria for trauma exposure, and embodied theoretical conceptualizations of racial trauma. Exposures to police violence fostered distrust of police and informed participants’ appraisals of their vulnerability to police violence across the life course. Six study participants disclosed losing loved ones to police killings. Injustice and hypervigilance accompanied grief. Implications for research, policy, and practice are discussed.

The Black Lives Matter Movement: A Call to Action for Couple and Family Therapists

“…Currently, it is expressed as the stop‐and‐frisk of Blacks who are significantly less likely to have weapons than their White counterparts (New York Civil Liberties Union, 2019) and killings of unarmed Black people by the police and the posthumous criminalization of these victims by law enforcement and the media. Today’s police killings are viewed as modern‐day lynching (Embrick, 2015) with legal policies similar to Jim Crow laws; all are modern‐day incarnations of racism (Alexander, 2010; Diaquoi, 2017; Smith Lee & Robinson, 2019). Thus, together, the CRT and bioecological models center on the key underpinnings of racial oppression.…”

“…Despite the recent attention paid to widespread violence against Black people, during slavery and Jim Crow, Black children were taught White people’s expectations and customs, and given instructions on what to do and what not to do when interacting White people, for their own protection (Berrey, 2009). This involved Black parents’ anxious emphasis on obedience and submission in talks with their children about race, especially regarding state‐sanctioned, racialized violence perpetuated, and permitted by law enforcement (Smith Lee & Robinson, 2019).…”

“…In recent years, media documentation and news coverage increasingly have brought to light the ways in which Black people are disproportionately the victims of racial bias, police violence, and killings in the United States (United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2015). The visible loss of Black life and violation of Black dignity in the context of police encounters has increased social awareness and is now at the center of national and global conversations showcasing the impact of race within the U.S. criminal justice system (Smith Lee & Robinson, 2019). Moreover, there is national attention on the distinct ways in which anti‐Black racism has and continues to inform the intimate lived experience of Black families (Diaquoi, 2017).…”

Delineating policing towards a social and health profession

“…When we examine flawed responses to wellness checks or calls involving a visible minoritized individual, it is likely that police, like the general public, are fearful of mental health symptoms and persons visually different from themselves (Mimiaga et al, 2010;Sweeney et al, 2015). Some investigators suggest that inappropriate police response may result from a lack of formal education, knowledge, or familiarity (Laurance, 2003;Smith & Robinson, 2019). We focus on familiarity in the next few sections.…”

Message From the Editor-in-Chief

“…Furthermore, Blacks are 10% more likely to report having psychological distress than non-Hispanic Whites (National Center for Health Statistics, 2015). Thus, Smith Lee and Robinson (2019) are timely in providing an in-depth look at the thoughts and feelings of Black males between the ages of 18 and 24 years in experiencing and witnessing police violence. Again, there is a need for more research in this area to develop interventions for Black males regarding their contact with police officers and on public policy on the training and accountability of police officers.…”