The Trauma Lens of Police Violence against Racial and Ethnic Minorities

Abstract

Police violence against racial and ethnic minorities has been researched through the lens of multiple social science disciplines including psychology. Within psychology, the study of trauma lends itself to understanding the dynamics of unjustified violence perpetrated by some law enforcement agents. These acts of aggression are not only examples of interpersonal trauma but also the trauma of racism, which is examined through the lens of intergenerational trauma, racistincident-based trauma, and complex trauma. There is a history of violence against racial and ethnic minorities that contextualizes the traumatic experience of police violence. Additionally, the framework of trauma illuminates the causes and consequences of police brutality as a racist-incident trauma. Finally, survivors of police violence targeting racial and ethnic minorities are often persons who have been exposed to multiple traumas resulting in a cumulative effect. Filling a current gap in the literature, we discuss the clinical implications of applying trauma theories to police violence, as well as diverse ways racially and ethnically marginalized persons have coped with and resisted these acts. There is attention given to the need to attend to the intersecting identities of persons who are targeted such as ethnic minority women. Finally, we describe the need for further study of this complex and devastating phenomenon.Feminist scholar, Audre Lorde, wrote, "this woman is Black so her blood is shed in silence" (De Veaux, 2004 p. 243). The blood of many racial and ethnic minorities has been shed by police officers who have sworn to protect and serve them. The trauma of police violence, or police brutality, has been attended to by some in the social science community but increased attention is needed to exploring

Perceptions of Police, Racial Profiling, and Psychological Outcomes: A Mixed Methodological Study

“…In this special issue, Reinka and Leach () found that Black participants had stronger reactions to police violence than White participants, despite greater familiarity with the experience. This may also be viewed through the paradigm of police violence as racial trauma outlined by Bryant‐Davis and colleagues (). Future research can examine why knowledge of police bias does not impact overall perceptions for certain racial groups, genders, or people with other identities.…”

“…When people of color have more frequent negative contacts with police and are targeted via racial profiling methods, their mistrust and negative opinions of law enforcement increases (Cochran & Warren, ). Recent research included in this Special Issue has also suggested that repeated negative contacts with police, whether experienced directly or vicariously through social media, news coverage, or intergenerational transmission of narratives and beliefs, can be viewed as a form of racial trauma, which may alter people of color's perceptions of safety and their views on the police (Bryant‐Davis, Adams, Alejandre, & Gray, ).…”

What Social Science Research Says about Police Violence against Racial and Ethnic Minorities: Understanding the Antecedents and Consequences—An Introduction

“…Continuing on this theme, Bryant‐Davis, Adams, Alejandre, and Gray () provide a critical review of literature on police brutality and disparate treatment (e.g., stop‐and‐frisk searches, identification checks) of racial and ethnic minorities in the United States and beyond through multiple trauma frameworks, namely, complex trauma and intergenerational trauma. Complex trauma is characterized as a subset of dangerous or harmful events in which the person suffers traumatic shock, and also severe disruption in the development of core self‐regulatory competences (Ford, ).…”

“…Bryant‐Davis et al. () conclude by outlining novel ways in which these frameworks can inform medical, judicial, and clinical policies and procedures.…”

Impact of Discrimination on Health among Adolescent Immigrant Minorities in Europe: The Role of Perceived Discrimination by Police and Security Personnel

“…In contrast to most other articles in this issue, we do not directly study antecedents and consequences of blatant aggressive behaviors by the police (e.g., Bryant‐Davis, Adams, Alejandre, & Gray, ; Charbonneau, Spencer, & Glaser, ; Kahn & Davies, ; Scott, Ma, Sadler, & Correll, ). This is due to the fact that our research was conducted among immigrant minority members in three European countries (i.e., Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden) .…”