NCJ Number
228161
Journal
Justice Quarterly Volume: 26 Issue: 3 Dated: September 2009 Pages: 592-623
Date Published
September 2009
Length
32 pages
Annotation
This study examined Whites' and African-Americans' support for police use of force utilizing a survey-based experiment varying the race of the offender across four different scenarios.
Abstract
Results of the study showed that Whites' support for police use of force was largely unrelated to the race of the offender, and Whites were equally likely to approve of police using force if the offender was an African-American teenager or a White teenager. In contrast, the race of the offender had a significant impact on African-Americans' support for police use of force, and African-Americans were much less likely to approve of police using force when the offender was a African-American teenager than when the offender was a White teenager. In addition, it was found that the factors influencing approval for police use of force varied by the race of the respondent, the race of the offender, and the characteristics of the police-offender interaction. These results suggest that African-Americans and Whites interpret police-citizen interactions in different ways. The results were consistent with the group conflict perspective. Previous research on attitudes toward police and police use of force has demonstrated an often profound racial gap, with White Americans holding more positive views of the police, and being more supportive of police use of force, than African-Americans. Given the result of previous studies and the racial discourse surrounding questions of police conduct, this study was intended to develop a more detailed and thorough understanding of African-Americans' and Whites' attitudes toward police use of force. The study tested the influence of multiple predictor variables on the attitudes of African-American and White respondents, for African-American and White offenders, across four different scenarios. Tables and references