Violence Research & Resiliency
Police Communication and Racial Trauma
Recently, images of lethal police violence against Black people have been featured in news and social media, and there appears to be general consensus among experts that these images are oppressive and traumatizing to African Americans and contribute to the escalation of police-community hostilities. Others, however, have argued that media footage of killings by police is not harmful, and is in fact necessary in order to hold those responsible accountable for their actions. Although there is evidence to suggest that violence in the news media can be traumatizing, the psychological impact of media depictions of lethal police violence against unarmed citizens has not been previously studied. Thus, there is no research on this subject to guide policy, mental health interventions, and de-escalation efforts. Important questions include: What are the psychological effects of such footage on the public, and in particular the Black community? Additionally, how should law enforcement leadership respond to minimize harm when such tragedies occur? The purpose of this study is to begin to address these important questions.
The purpose of this study is to better understand the mental health impact of police violence in the media, with the intention of developing scientifically informed interventions to deescalate community-police tensions. To that end we will developed mock news footage of a fatal shooting by police of an unarmed citizen, followed by a statement from the police chief (of either empathy for the victim or support of the officer’s actions). Race of participant, race and gender of victim, and content of the message from police chief serve as independent variables. Dependent variables are the reactions of participants to the shooting and message delivered by the police chief. To this end, participants will complete psychological measures, physiological measures, have their facial expressions analyzed for emotional reactions, and discuss reactions to the footage with investigators. We hope to use findings to inform mental health professionals as to how to help those distressed by media violence, and inform law enforcement on how to prevent escalation of hostilities (i.e., rioting and retaliation) in the aftermath of such events.
Related Papers
Sawyer, B., DeLapp, R. C. T., & Williams, M. T. (2016). Community Violence Exposure, Racial Discrimination, and Barriers to Treatment: Implications for African American Males in Counseling. In W. Ross (Ed.), Counseling African American Males: Effective Therapeutic Interventions and Approaches (pp. 33-60). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
Williams, M., Bruce, S. L., Combs, J., & Alvey, H. (2014, November). Satisfaction with a Six-Week Intervention for At-Risk Juveniles: The Gentleman's Academy Program. Report for the Louisville Metro Police Department and Greater Louisville Inc., Center for Mental Health Disparities, University of Louisville. doi: 10.13140/RG.2.1.2375.3845
Violence in the Media
Interviews with Dr. Williams
Gregory, K. (2019, February 13). Killing Us Softly: How Videos of Police Brutality Traumatize African Americans and Undermine the Search for Justice. The New Republic.
Savage, K. (2018, April 2). Remembering the Brutal Tactics of the Baton Rouge Police. Juvenile Justice Information Exchange.
Meyerson, C. (2017, December 1). Protesters Against Police Violence Risk the Very Thing They’re Fighting. The Nation.
Grisby, L. (2017, June 13). Aggressive, biased policing can have negative health implications for many. The Colorado Trust. Denver, CO.