Effect of Police Brutality and Subsequent Protests on Education
In the recent past, the world has evidenced a period of heightened national protests as a result of police brutality particularly on the black community. In particular, the recent death of George Floyd caused the escalation of protests amid the COVID-19 pandemic in most parts of the country. While most people have responded in continuous protests, the unseen effects are the growing rate of mental health amongst the victims and those without any direct connection with the affected. According to Lives (2019), subsequent protests coupled with fear around COVID-19 pandemic has affected student’s ability to concentrate in studies and has reduced the desire of most students to study owing to development of traumatic experiences and associated mental conditions. Police brutality triggers negative emotions, an aspect that facilitates national protests coupled with mental instability that affects peoples’ ability to undertake tasks efficiently thus affecting the education, economic, and social aspects of life significantly.
Methodology
Identifying the relevant structure for this study started with the formulation of research question and objective. The objective of this study was to identify the effect of current issues of police brutality, consequent protests on education, and effective social work practice goals. Having understood the research objective, the next step was to search for the exact literature that consisted in searching material and determining its viability in this study. To begin with, I visited Google Scholar website to search for the keywords “police brutality and national protests” after which I got a feedback of 28,500 entries. I narrowed my search to journals and academic journals that reduced my results to 20,500 entries. I carried out another search using the keywords, “police brutality and education” and “social work on law enforcement” each of which yielded 20,000 and 218,000 entries respectively. I read through the abstracts and settled for 11 entries that were relevant for the study depending on their date of publication, scholars, provision of source of information. Other studies were rejected in that they were not related to the keywords and did not fulfill the specifications of the research question. All the selected journals were relevant in that they provided an abstract for review, provided verifiable author information, and the information presented was current in that the articles were published between the years 1990 and 2020.
Literature Review
According to a report by Hawkins and Thomas (2013) police brutality has become the leading cause of death amongst the youth and particularly non-white men in the United States owing to the fact that, approximately 1 out of every 1,000 black men are likely to get killed by police. The senselessness in police brutality against the recent death of George Floyd has sparked anger and national protests in the country. The denial of breath for nine minutes as a result of a counterfeit $20 bill was considered an act of utter hatred and racism (Lives, 2019). This event came a few months after the death of Ahmaud Arbery, whose killers managed to evade criminal charges until the video as shared. Mwangi, Thelamour, Ezeofor, and Carpenter (2018) explain that although people from all ethnic and racial groups are prone to police brutality, there is a high probability of Black community, American Indians, Latino men, and Alaska Natives to become victims of police brutality compared to white men. The growing rate of death by police brutality and the uproar caused by George Floyd’s death facilitated further interests on the subject that was confirmed by findings from Hawkins and Thomas (2013) study which showed that black men are likely to suffer in the hands of police brutality owing to the perception of criminal records and likelihood of substance abuse. Although the black community stands a higher risk, the research showed that men are at a higher risk than women and this risk peaks on individuals between the ages of 20years and 35 years for both men and women.
Mwangi, Thelamour, Ezeofor, and Carpenter (2018) state that although the focus of the government and the community is on the national protests, many forget that violent encounters with police brutality causes adverse effects on the health and well-being of both the affected and unaffected communities. These effects also spread to the stability of neighborhoods, politics, education, and the economy, as a whole. However, although policing is required to play a significant role in the maintenance of law and order, it has instead facilitated the growth of inherent structural inequalities between the white community and people of color (Edwards, Lee & Esposito, 2019). The death of Michael Brown, Stephon Clark, Oscar Grant, Charleena Lyles, and the latest George Floyd have facilitated the growth of characteristic inequalities that exist between different racial groups in the country. Mwangi et al., (2018) explains that subsequent protests have lured the attention of the state and federal government to the racialized behavior of police officers against the civilians. In relation to these acts, the same study reveals that police brutality is an essential vector of inherent health inequality, a cause of increasing mortality, and lack of interest in education for people of color.
Research by Edwards, Lee, and Esposito (2019) established that sex, race, and individual age were associated with exposure to police brutality and criminal justice system in that police often decide the people to target, mode of intervention, and the force that should be exerted in policing based on these factors. Such behavior often causes the death of unarmed youth that leads to national protests in a manner that hinders economic, education, and social progress. Coley and Barton (2006) agree with these findings explaining that the death of undeserving youth such as Michael Brown and George Floyd exerts immense burden on the education institutions most of which are starved for the necessary resources to support the youth in education and healing from traumatic experiences. Healing is a consequent requirement amongst the youth in that national protests and cases of injustices often result in mental health issues. A report by Prost, Saunders, and Oehme (2020) explain that most of the schools in Ferguson were required to close in a bid to provide counseling and assure the safety of students after the death of Michael Brown. Although COVID-19 has contributed to the closure of most schools, children will need to undergo mental health treatment before settling down in school as a result of the continuous national protests that have been evidenced in the past few weeks.
Hawkins & Thomas (2013) explains that police brutality and consequent national protests have shifted the federal and state government’s attention to the criminal justice system. This aspect has caused the police forces to become bolstered with advanced equipment and expensive technologies, causing the depletion of spending available to the education sector. While the spending for the criminal justice sector has amplified from 127% in 1987 to 2007 by, education spending has only increased by a mere 21% (Stullich, Morgan, & Schak (2016). This has caused the closure of most schools and necessitated the reduction of nurses, counselors, and teachers, all of whom, play a critical role in the growth of the economy. Lack of support has caused poor people, particularly from the minority community to drop out of school, an aspect that has facilitated growth in the cycle of poverty and criminal activities (Husband, 2016). The expansion of prisons rather than the implementation of restorative mechanisms of justice have caused increase in criminalization of undeserving youth. Coley and Barton (2006) and Husband (2016) explain that this scenario has caused students who face traumatizing situations in their community with the police to report to schools that are filled with police scrutiny thus increasing their traumatic experiences. Lack of funding of discipline practices and insufficient resources to attend to traumatic experiences has caused mental instability that has further created the need to engage in substance abuse thus creating a vicious cycle. Hawkins and Thomas (2013) adds that government relentless, police brutality, and consequent national protests have caused the youth to become victims of extra-judicial deaths in the country.
Coley & Barton (2006) advises that the effects of police brutality on education can be reduced by prioritizing education and the need for mental health while incorporating social work services. According to this research most police officers are victims of traditional policing directives where police brutality is a norm. Research by Alang, McAlpine, McCreedy, and Hardeman (2017) and Coley & Barton (2006) show that training requirements and increased education can be implemented to reduce inherent police misconduct. Hawkins and Thomas (2013) further supports the need of education in law enforcement stating that the development of college education programs can deem a successful effort in the production of professional and education police officers who value humanity and promote restorative measures to improve the lives of the accused. This is important since, research by Barthelemy, Chaney, Maccio, & Church (2016) shows that the spillover of adverse mental health issues in the target communities could be facilitated by lower social status, threats and vulnerability, lack of fairness, and lower belief of individual worth. As such, there is a need to improve policing through standardized policing, and training strategies that focus on the use of force, accountability, bias, and ethics.
In order to eradicate police brutality and subsequent national protests that often affect mental health and the success of education, Sacks & Chow (2018) advices that social work practices should be implemented. BASW (2020) and Sinha (2017) support this provision stating that the inclusion of social workers would provide police departments with an array of counseling needs after traumatic experiences. Research by National Association of Social Workers (NASW) (2020) also stipulates that social workers should be employed in police department to improve judgement by helping to solve interpersonal and social issues in order to promote human rights and the well-being of the accused and their families. BASW (2020) also supports that the availability of social workers will protect the needs of adults and children from harm by keeping the affected family under control to solve problems and make changes while organizing support depending on the affected wishes, needs, and strengths. In their participation, research by Sacks & Chow (2018) shows that the social workers should remain aware of issues rooted in emotional and social disadvantages, trauma, poverty, and discrimination. With their continued support, the issues evidenced in the police department and consequent uproar in the community as a result of national protests will be controlled thus inhibiting the likelihood of trauma in children, teachers, and in the education sector.
Conclusion
Police brutality triggers negative emotions, an aspect that facilitates national protests coupled with mental instability that affects peoples’ ability to undertake tasks efficiently thus affecting the education, economic, and social aspects of life significantly. Research by Mwangi, Thelamour, Ezeofor, and Carpenter (2018), Lives (2019), Hawkins and Thomas (2013) and Edwards, Lee & Esposito, (2019) agree that police brutality often create grounds for national protests that tend to create breeding conditions for mental health conditions. Mental instability particularly amongst the school-going children often affect their interest in school, an aspect that increases school dropouts. Alang, McAlpine, McCreedy, and Hardeman (2017) and Coley & Barton (2006) believe that the provision of standardized education and training to foster accountability and ethics can help to reduce police brutality. Sacks and Chow (2018), BASW (2020), NASW (2020) and Sinha (2017) also add that the introduction of social work practice in law enforcement will reduce police brutality and subsequent national protests that affect the success of education.
References
Alang, S., McAlpine, D., McCreedy, E., & Hardeman, R. (2017). Police brutality and black health: setting the agenda for public health scholars. American journal of public health, 107(5), 662-665. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2017.303691
Barthelemy, J. J., Chaney, C., Maccio, E. M., & Church, II, W. T. (2016). Law enforcement perceptions of their relationship with community: Law enforcement surveys and community focus groups. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 26(3-4), 413-429.
BASW (2020). What do social workers do? British Association of Social Workers. Retrieved from https://www.basw.co.uk/about-basw
Bossler, A., Posick, C., & King, B. (2020). A Message from the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology. Criminal Justice, 6, 5-2020.
Bryant‐Davis, T., Adams, T., Alejandre, A., & Gray, A. A. (2017). The trauma lens of police violence against racial and ethnic minorities. Journal of Social Issues, 73(4), 852-871. https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12251
Coley, R. J., & Barton, P. E. (2006). Locked up and locked out: An educational perspective on the US prison population. Policy information report. Educational Testing Service. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED496101
Delgado, A. (2016). Police brutality: Impacts on Latino and African American lives and communities.
Edwards, F., Lee, H., & Esposito, M. (2019). Risk of being killed by police use of force in the United States by age, race–ethnicity, and sex. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(34), 16793-16798. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1821204116
Hawkins, H., & Thomas, R. (2013). White policing of black populations: A history of race and social control in America. Out of order, 65-86.
Husband, M. (2016). Racial battle fatigue and the Black student affairs professional in the era of# BlackLivesMatter. The Vermont Connection, 37(1), 10. https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/tvc/vol37/iss1/10
Lives, B. (2019). Medicine and medical science: Black lives must matter more. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 116, 16793-98.
Moore, S. E., Robinson, M. A., Clayton, D. M., Adedoyin, A. C., Boamah, D. A., Kyere, E., & Harmon, D. K. (2018). A Critical Race Perspective of Police Shooting of Unarmed Black Males in the United States: Implications for Social Work. Urban Social Work, 2(1), 33-47. doi:10.1891/2474-8684.2.1.33
Mwangi, C. A. G., Thelamour, B., Ezeofor, I., & Carpenter, A. (2018). ” Black elephant in the room”: Black students contextualizing campus racial climate within US racial climate. Journal of College Student Development, 59(4), 456-474. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2018.0042
National Association of Social Workers (2020). Police social work. Police social work a unique area of practice arising from law enforcement functions. Retrieved from https://www.naswnyc.org/page/77/Police-Social-Work.htm
Prost, S. G., Saunders, D. G., & Oehme, K. (2020). Childhood family violence and officer responses to officer-involved domestic violence: Effects of cumulative and resolved trauma. International Journal of Police Science & Management, 1461355720907641. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461355720907641
Sacks, T. K., & Chow, J. C. C. (2018). A social work perspective on police violence: evidence and interventions. Journal of Ethnic & Cultural Diversity in Social Work. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1080/15313204.2018.1476197
Sinha, R. (2017). Police social work: Active engagement with law enforcement. Demystifying Criminal Justice Social Work in India, 85.
Statista (2020). Number of people shot to death by the police in the United States from 2017 to 2020, by race. Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/statistics/585152/people-shot-to-death-by-us-police-by-race/
Stullich, S., Morgan, I., & Schak, O. (2016). State and local expenditures on corrections and education. A brief from the us department of education, policy and program studies service. Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development, US Department of Education.
Social Research Book Summary
Chapter 17: Analyzing Existing Data: Quantitative & Qualitative Methods
This study has presented an indepth overview of methods for data analysis including content analysis, comparative and historical analysis, unobstructive, and secondary analysis (Rubin and Babbie, 2016). Unobstructive measures refers to the methods employed in the study of social behavior while secondary analysis is a type of research whereby the data that is collected and analyzed in one study can be reanalyzed in consequent studies.
The use of secondary analysis is often characterized by additional cost savings and the availability of rigorous sampling approaches that make it possible to undertake data analysis. Additionally, huge amount of variables expedites the process of undertaking sophisticated statistical analysis (multivariate). However, before engaging in secondary analysis, it is advisable to ensure scrutiny of the data to verify the availability and whether the data contains the anticipated degree of variation.
Chapter 18: Qualitative Research: General Principles
This study focused on general principles employed in qualitative research including qualitative sampling, qualitative research paradigms, and ethics, strengths and weaknesses inherent in this qualitative research. This chapter has shown how the application of qualitative studies helps to provide insights and understanding that is not available in quantitative studies. Additionally, the study has discussed the array of strategies that can be employed to enhance the accuracy of qualitative studies.
When employing this study in social work, Rubin and Babbie (2016) explains that the researcher should adopt paradigms that include grounded theory, naturalism, case studies, and ethnography, among others. In order to ascertain the objectivity of qualitative studies, Rubin and Babbie (2016) states that the researcher should employ an array of strategies including prolonged engagement, negative case analysis, triangulation, auditing, and peer support and debriefing.
Chapter 19: Qualitative Research: Specific Methods
This chapter has discussed an array of qualitative research methods including life history, recording observations, participant observation, qualitative interviewing, and focus groups. The chapter has provided insights on the distinction that exists between different models of qualitative research, general principles of research, and various qualitative research methods.
Although there are many methods of qualitative research, Rubin and Babbie (2016) explain that the main form of qualitative research is the field journal in that it provides the researcher with a provision for recording observations. When doing journal entries, this chapter explain that the researcher should ensure that it is concise and detailed which including the investigators empirical observations and interpretations. This includes information about the happenings and accompanying thoughts.
Chapter 20: Qualitative Data Analysis
This chapter has examined and analyzed the generation of open-ended data through qualitative research studies. This section has also identified conceptual procedures that are often employed to search for the meaning of qualitative data while examining the importance of computer software that is designed to analyze qualitative data.
This chapter explains that qualitative analysis refers to non-numerical interpretation and examination of different observations. This analysis often entails an interplay between analysis and theory in a bid to discover patterns such as the possibility of links between different variables and the occurrence of changes over a long period of time.
Video Analysis
Lofgrem (2013) explains that qualitative analysis is often done in six steps that begin with reading of the scripts. After understanding the script, one should label relevant pieces and decide on the most important codes and ensure the creation of categories by combining different codes together. The categories should be labelled to decide on the most relevant and their inherent connection. There is also need to decide on the existent of hierarchy amongst the hierarchies such as whether one category is more significant than others.
References
Löfgren, K. (2013). Qualitative analysis of interview data: A step-by-step guide for coding/indexing. [Video].
On p. 203 of the text, van Wormer and Besthorn list several characteristics of sustainable and unsustainable organizational culture. Think about an organization you are familiar with, whether it be through employment, or as a consumer of services. Which of these characteristics have you observed? How do they affect organizational functioning?
During my internship at Knight Frank Real estate, I realized that the company’s success was facilitated by its ability to pay attention to its key players. The company has created an atmosphere of loyalty to its ideals including the need to achieve customer satisfaction by providing quality products and services. Conflicts that exists in the upper levels often cause burnout of employees, an aspect that leads to high turnover. Employee inability to meet organizational demands and deadlines is often considered inefficiency since the organization’s priority is on ensuring customer satisfaction. As Van Wormer and Besthorn (2017) explains, the employees who have managed to fulfill most employee demands are provided the highest position in the leadership hierarchy as well as those with the greatest influence in the company. The success evidenced in the company has been facilitated by open communication and democratic decision coupled with high employee satisfaction.
References
Van Wormer, K., & Besthorn, F. H. (2017). Human behavior and the social environment, macro level: Groups, communities, and organizations. Oxford University Press.
In the article “Using 360 Degree Evaluation to Improve Clinical Skill Development by First Line Child Protective Services Supervisors,” Kelly and Sundet present the findings from a study of 360 degree evaluation within an organization. Conversely, in the article “The Truth about 360-Degree Feedback,” Ryan presents a scathing critique of this method. What do you think about the method of feedback, evaluation, and skill development within a social work setting? Do you think something like this might be helpful in a practice setting you are familiar with, either as an intern or an employee? Why or why not?
This technique can deem effective for social work practice due to the aspect of continuous feedback, evaluation, and development of skills. However, the success of this technique is dependent on the ability of social workers to demonstrate strong leadership skills. Social workers who have the ability to understand client needs by analyzing feedback and engaging in continuous evaluation can achieve the desired level of success in social work setting.
Yes, this method of feedback, analysis and skill development can enable me to improve efficiency as an employee or intern. For instance, when assigned an unfamiliar assignment, evaluating the provided feedback in social work practice can enable me to develop my skills significantly. Although this technique has been criticized severally, its application in social work has proven efficient especially when the practice is coupled with the desired leadership practices.
References
Kelly, M. J., & Sundet, P. (2007). Using 360 degree evaluation to improve clinical skill development by first line child protective services supervisors. Journal of Evidence-Based Social Work, 4(3-4), 145-161.
5 1. Gamble (2012) discussed whether and how well-being can be assessed globally, and presented a method for the social work profession to concepturalize well-being. The DP 8 PowerPoint contains links to a number of measures and organizations discussed in the article, and includes a number of thought questions for you to ponder. Post your responses to the article, and your responses to the questions on ONE of the following slides: 4, 12, 13, or 14 (…)
- The article “The Price of the Sex-Slave Rescue Fantasy” discussed the discrediting of one of the most prominent activists in the area of sex trade trafficking. It referred to the International Labour Organization’s report “Profits and Poverty: The Economics of Forced Labour” as a source of information for more complete data than we are usually presented with. Post your reactions to the article and the report. What surprised you? What did you learn? What will you now be able to contribute the next time the topic comes up in conversation?
This article shows the actions of most people are driven by profit-oriented motives rather than the need to save lives and improve one’s well-being. While social workers often sacrifice their time to create positive grounds for other people, others often pose as social workers with the aim of benefiting from the process. It is surprising that an individual would put extra effort to lie about their status in a bid to gain recognition and sympathy.
As a social worker, it is important to understand that situations that involve money often lack moral consideration. However, the story also shows that women and particularly the poor in the society are vulnerable and are likely to become victims of trafficking. Understanding that individuals who experience trauma at a young age have a higher susceptibility to trafficking and sexual abuse at a later age, social workers should strive to provide decision-oriented therapy to reduce their susceptibility.
In the past, most people believed that Ms. Mam was undertaking an honest and positive course to assist the girls in need. However, this article shows that her story was made up in order to gain the sympathy of the international community. I will delve to help people understand that the story is made up of half-truths since the provided data on trafficking is founded on shaky estimates. Nevertheless, it is important for social workers to view scenarios from a positive perspective and delve to assist the vulnerable characters and the victims of acts such as human trafficking.
References
Grant, M. G. (2014). The Price of a Sex-Slave Rescue Fantasy. New York Times, 29.