Dataset Information

Perceived Threat Associated with Police Officers and Black Men Predicts Support for Policing Policy Reform.

ABSTRACT: Racial disparities in policing and recent high-profile incidents resulting in the deaths of Black men have ignited a national debate on policing policies. Given evidence that both police officers and Black men may be associated with threat, we examined the impact of perceived threat on support for reformed policing policies. Across three studies we found correlational evidence that perceiving police officers as threatening predicts increased support for reformed policing practices (e.g., limiting the use of lethal force and matching police force demographics to those of the community). In contrast, perceiving Black men as threatening predicted reduced support for policing policy reform. Perceived threat also predicted willingness to sign a petition calling for police reform. Experimental evidence indicated that priming participants to associate Black men with threat could also reduce support for policing policy reform, and this effect was moderated by internal motivation to respond without prejudice. Priming participants to associate police officers with threat did not increase support for policing policy reform. Results indicate that resistance to policing policy reform is associated with perceiving Black men as threatening. Moreover, findings suggest that publicizing racially charged police encounters, which may conjure associations between Black men and threat, could reduce support for policing policy reform.

SUBMITTER: Skinner AL

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4940419 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Perceived Threat Associated with Police Officers and Black Men Predicts Support for Policing Policy Reform.

Skinner Allison L AL Haas Ingrid J IJ

Frontiers in psychology 20160712

Racial disparities in policing and recent high-profile incidents resulting in the deaths of Black men have ignited a national debate on policing policies. Given evidence that both police officers and Black men may be associated with threat, we examined the impact of perceived threat on support for reformed policing policies. Across three studies we found correlational evidence that perceiving police officers as threatening predicts increased support for reformed policing practices (e.g., limitin ...[more]

PMID: 27462294

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Project description:Few studies have examined shiftwork adaptation among police officers or potential differences in disease biomarkers among adapted and maladapted shiftworkers. This study characterized shiftwork adaptation among 430 police officers from the Buffalo Cardio-Metabolic Occupational Police Stress (BCOPS) study. Police officers working fixed night shifts with symptoms characteristic of adaptation and maladaptation were identified using latent class analysis (n = 242). Two approaches were applied, one with police-specific symptoms and another using more general symptoms as shiftwork adaptation indicators. Biomarkers of inflammation, heart rate variability, and cardiometabolic risk were then compared between shiftwork adaptation groups, and with officers working day shifts, after adjusting for confounding. When analyses included police-specific symptoms, maladapted shiftworkers (n = 73) had more self-reported stress, sleep disturbances, fatigue, and less social support than adapted shiftworkers (n = 169). Using more general symptoms, maladapted officers (n = 56) reported more stress and depression, and less social support than adapted officers (n = 186). In police-specific models, adjusted (least-squares) means (± standard error) of circulating interleukin-6 (IL-6) concentrations in maladapted officers (0.8 ± 0.1 ln[pg/ml]) were modestly elevated relative to adapted shiftworkers (0.7 ± 0.1 ln[pg/ml], p = .09) and relative to permanent day workers (0.5 ± 0.1 ln[pg/ml], p ≤ 0.01), and leptin levels in maladapted officers (9.6 ± 0.1 ln[pg/ml]) exceeded those in the adapted (9.4 ± 0.1 ln[pg/ml], p ≤ 0.01) and day shift groups (9.4 ± 0.1 ln[pg/ml], p = .03). In the general model, adjusted mean tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) concentrations among maladapted officers (5.6 ± 0.23 pg/ml) exceeded the adapted (4.8 ± 0.2 pg/ml, p ≤ 0.01) and day workers (5.0 ± 0.2 pg/ml, p = .04), and insulin among maladapted officers was higher (2.4 ± 0.1 ln[uu/ml]) than the adapted group (1.8 ± 0.1 ln[uu/ml], p = .03). No differences were observed for the other biomarkers. The results suggest that maladaptation among police officers working fixed night shifts may lead to increases in leptin, insulin, IL-6, and TNF-α; however, the cross-sectional design and possible residual confounding preclude interpretation of cause and effect. Prospective studies are planned to further characterize the relationship between shiftwork maladaptation and biomarkers of chronic disease risk in this police officer cohort.

Dataset Information

Perceived Threat Associated with Police Officers and Black Men Predicts Support for Policing Policy Reform.

Publications

Perceived Threat Associated with Police Officers and Black Men Predicts Support for Policing Policy Reform.

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