Group Socialization Of Police Brutality
There is much debate in the United States surrounding the causes of police brutality. Missing from this debate is the question of what types of individuals choose to become officers of the law. Are these individuals prone to behave in a violent manner once placed in positions of authority? Do some police officers possess a psychological profile that encourages such behavior? Further, what role does group socialization play in the issue of police violence against Blacks and Browns? Research suggests that authoritarians, individuals that favor strict obedience to authority at the expense of personal freedom, self- select into police work. Criminologists, psychologists and other social scientists have found that authoritarianism is a by-product
of police work given the danger that is ever present in police work.
Perhaps the most famous of the works on police psychology was published in The Journal of Criminal Law & Police Science at Northwestern University in 1972. The POLICE PERSONALITY: FACT OR FICTION?, was the catalyst for later research on this topic. In it, Robert W. Balch attempts to organize the various findings in the research on police psychology. He did so by summarizing what he learned from the literature of that time. On the matter of authoritarianism and police, Robert W Balch outlined his findings which included the following:
Thus it stands to reason that if the norms within police culture include violence towards disadvantaged groups, one need not join the profession as an individual prone to violence in order to commit violence later in his/her career.
This is a glaring oversight on the part of local governments. For example, the Cleveland, OH police officer who killed Tamir Rice in 2014, Timothy Loehmann, was deemed “unfit” by a deputy to be a cop within the Independence, OH police force in 2012. In September 2013, Timothy Loehmann failed a written cognitive exam in Cuyahoga County, OH and at least 3 similar exams in other Ohio counties.
As in the case of Tamir Rice’s killer, psychological assessment and mental health screening identified an individual who was not a good fit for police work both before and during his employment. Rigorous, in depth psychological evaluations before hire (as well as routinely during employment to address the effects of group socialization) will go a long way in weeding out police officers prone to abuse of power and citizens.
of police work given the danger that is ever present in police work.
Perhaps the most famous of the works on police psychology was published in The Journal of Criminal Law & Police Science at Northwestern University in 1972. The POLICE PERSONALITY: FACT OR FICTION?, was the catalyst for later research on this topic. In it, Robert W. Balch attempts to organize the various findings in the research on police psychology. He did so by summarizing what he learned from the literature of that time. On the matter of authoritarianism and police, Robert W Balch outlined his findings which included the following:
Thus it stands to reason that if the norms within police culture include violence towards disadvantaged groups, one need not join the profession as an individual prone to violence in order to commit violence later in his/her career.
This is a glaring oversight on the part of local governments. For example, the Cleveland, OH police officer who killed Tamir Rice in 2014, Timothy Loehmann, was deemed “unfit” by a deputy to be a cop within the Independence, OH police force in 2012. In September 2013, Timothy Loehmann failed a written cognitive exam in Cuyahoga County, OH and at least 3 similar exams in other Ohio counties.
As in the case of Tamir Rice’s killer, psychological assessment and mental health screening identified an individual who was not a good fit for police work both before and during his employment. Rigorous, in depth psychological evaluations before hire (as well as routinely during employment to address the effects of group socialization) will go a long way in weeding out police officers prone to abuse of power and citizens.