In 2019, Atatiana Jefferson was fatally shot in her own home by a police officer. A neighbor had placed a non-emergency call to police out of concern for Jefferson's front door being open late at night. An officer who arrived on the scene went to the back of the house. Jefferson, who was unaware of the police presence, retrieved her legally owned gun from her purse. The officer perceived a threat and fired through a window, killing her as her 8-year-old nephew watched.

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Research demonstrating how implicit racial prejudice alters threat perception provides crucial context for understanding real-world tragedies. Specifically, it offers a scientific framework for analyzing high-profile cases over recent decades where unarmed Black individuals were killed by people who claimed they genuinely perceived the victims as armed or representing a threat to their personal safety.

Societal Relevance of Research on Perceptual Racial Bias

On average, African Americans are 3.5 times more likely to be killed by police. They are also 1.5 times more unlikely to be unarmed. As such, people of color, particularly African Americans are most likely to experience the negative effects of his violence. This can be seen in mental health trends.

Police Violence and Its Effect on People of Color

Spielman, R. M., Jenkins, W. J., & Lovett, M. D. (2020, April 22). Psychology (2nd ed.). OpenStax. https://openstax.org/books/psychology-2e/pages/1-introduction

OpenStax Psychology (2nd ed.) Textbook

On February 26, 2012, Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old African American high school student, was fatally shot in a predominantly White neighborhood by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer. Zimmerman observed Martin wearing a hoodie, called 911 to report him as suspicious, and pursued him despite the 911 operator's instructions not to follow him. During the call, Zimmerman stated, "[expletive] punks. These [expletive], they always get away." A physical altercation ensued, resulting in Zimmerman shooting the unarmed teenager. Zimmerman claimed self-defense and was acquitted of second-degree murder and manslaughter by a Florida jury, a verdict that sparked a nationwide outcry.

Trayvon Martin

Given the following scenario, use principles from psychological research to analyze how the security guard's perception of the event could have been influenced by factors other than the objective actions observed.

Analysis of a Perceptual Judgment

Read the following scenario and explain how research on the role of expectations and beliefs in perception can be applied to understand the security guard's actions.

Analysis of a Security Incident

Researchers compared the prevalence of Emergency Department (ED) visits of African Americans and police killings. They calculated that police killings increased hospitalizations for depression by 11%.

Depression-related Hospitalizations and Police Violence

This study looked at counties from 5 different states, and found each had different rates of hospitalizations. Kentucky had the most while New York had the least. Interestingly, New York had the most police killings in this time and the fewest visits. This indicates that there are likely other factors affecting these observations.

Depression related to Police Violence via states.

The best solutions would be to support policies that combat police killings. Other then that, traditional depression treatments can be utilized.

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