The racialized patterns of police violence: The critical importance of research as praxis

Abstract

The tragic killing of George Floyd at the hands of the police resulted in hundreds of thousands of protestors marching in the streets demanding change. The call for change criticized the killing of Blacks by law enforcement and challenged White supremacy as an institution of social control and racial violence. A key component of the marches and protests was a message to the residents of the United States: “Black Lives Matter.” As society grapples with a reckoning, researchers studying police violence for the past 6 decades have been empirically and theoretically debating the reasons why use of force by law enforcement continues to have a higher proportion of Black and Brown victims compared to Whites. Although the research on fatal police killings was studied by only a small number of individuals prior to 2014, after the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri the research in different areas of the country increased rapidly as did the forms of analysis and research disciplines making their own contributions. The Washington Post and Guardian news agencies established that deaths at the hands of the police were occurring for at least 900 to 1100 individual deaths per year for which firearms resulted in the greatest cause of death. As US government agencies failed to produce a national data source on police involved killings, the media took a leading role in providing greater national understanding. The authors examine what role academic researchers contribute to the discussion for solutions, particularly those from marginalized backgrounds. As protestors march, lawyers sue and defend, and politicians create new forms of legislation, researchers need to play a more important role initiating critical studies, making sense of the data, and providing a theoretical framework for which police violence can be understood. This article will provide an overview of the literature on racialized police violence, point out key patterns involving racial and ethnic disparities, and emphasize how researchers can play a more important role in advocating for change.

Integrating personality psychology and intersectionality to advance diversity in the study of persons

“…Intersectionality has gained traction in psychology due to an increased recognition of people's inequitable experiences based on structural identity domains (e.g., police murders of Black and Brown people; Durán & Shroulote‐Durán, 2021) and structural oppression more broadly (e.g., the Black Lives Matter movement; Rogers et al., 2024b), but also due to the increasing awareness that our individual‐focused theories will not suffice for fully understanding people in context (Azmitia et al., 2023; Bharat et al., 2021; Ghavami et al., 2016; Juan et al., 2016; Moffitt et al., 2020). Based on past work, use of an intersectional framework in psychology may be guided by at least three tenets (Cole, 2009; Collins, 2019).…”

A Critique of Vanishing Voice in Noncooperative Spaces: The Perspective of an Aspirant Black Female Intellectual Activist

“…Historically, the same (Western) police system is essentially indifferent to racism and may (overtly or otherwise) promote racist violence (Durán & Shroulote-Durán, 2021 ). Indifference is particularly observable in the (assimilated) two white female police officers’ friendly treatment of Lina and refusal to name racism for what it is, or treat such violence with urgency.…”

An fsQCA Analysis of Qualified Immunity and Police Use of Force: An Applied Sociology Approach

“…This article responds to calls Romero (2020; R. J. Durán and Shroulote-Durán 2021;Milne and Cumming 2021) had made to reclaim social justice traditions for Sociology and calls Burawoy (2005) had made for Sociology to contribute to civil society (Enriquez and Hernandez 2021). Employing an Applied Sociology approach, this study seeks to determine if these calls for reforms to police use of force and qualified immunity have merit.…”

“…Powerful calls for reforms to these laws are being made (de Stefan 2017; Schwartz 2017). This article responds to calls Romero (2020; R. J. Durán and Shroulote-Durán 2021; Milne and Cumming 2021) had made to reclaim social justice traditions for Sociology and calls Burawoy (2005) had made for Sociology to contribute to civil society (Enriquez and Hernandez 2021).…”