Racial Tension In Polices

There are many aspects to take into consideration when looking at issues with the police; this paper will only focus on issue relating to racial tension. I believe to fix this problem it must be examined as fully as possible and this is only one piece of the puzzle. The issues within the courts also is an important aspect to note, if a person could get a fair trial, mandatory minimum, and three strike laws were eliminated and drug laws were changed…there could be less tension. These changes would not completely eliminate tensions, but I am of the opinion it would decrease tension for the portion of the population that is the most vulnerable and those most likely to be harmed these. This paper will focus on examining the issues specific to interaction …show more content…
Police departments however appear to be in a state of cultural incapacity. “Cultural incapacity is the concept that an organization does not intend to be culturally destructive, but may lack the capacity to help minority clients or communities because the system remains extremely biased towards racial/cultural superiority for the dominate group (Sue, 2006, p. 239).” “Other aspects of such an agency are hiring practices, using whites as models, subtle messages that people of color are not welcome, and lower expectations of minority clients in this case the general public, with a focus on African Americans, based on unchallenged stereotypical beliefs (Sue, 2006, p. …show more content…
“Racial discrimination is harmful to African American’s mental health, with evidence linking it to lower satisfaction, decreased self esteem, increased depressive symptoms, increase in anger, and anxiety among black adolescents (Seaton, Upton, Gilbert, & Volpe, 2014, p. 882).” The relationship between racial discrimination and psychological distress appeared to be greater for children than adults (Lee, L.L. & Soyeon, A., 2013, p. 11).” I searched Simmons’s library and Google in an attempt to find studies on the impact of police discrimination on the racial identity of African American youth, being that this is a known social problem, but could find no such studies. I question if I used the wrong search terms (impact of negative interactions with police, minority youth, and racial identity). It appears social workers should research the impact on racial identity and perception of police into adulthood. In the mean time a social worker is able to use current studies to educate police officers and police chiefs on the psychological reaction of discrimination on African Americans that is not specific to police