INTRODUCTION

Ashley Cunningham
University of North Texas
Denton, TX
 THE EFFECTS OF POLICE
KILLINGS ON AFRICAN
AMERICAN ADOLESCENT’S
INTERNALIZED BEHAVIOR
STATEMENT
OF THE
PROBLEM
• Why does this
need research?
• How is this issue
developmental?
 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

• Family Stress Theory

• Attachment Theory
• These theories relate in which the adolescent is
going to adapt to their remaining attachments in
this time of distress.
 FAILING TO HAVE THE COMPLEXATION
FOR PROTECTION
• Police Mistrust within the African American community
• Why?
• Common themes within African American communities during police encounters:
• Aggressiveness
• Dangerous
• Police Misconduct
• Police Violence
• Verbal Abuse
• Physical Abuse
(Brunson, 2007: Brunson &
• Corruption Weitzer, 2008: Nordberg,
• Racially Biased Policing Crawford, Praetorius, &
Hatcher, 2015)
RELATION TO
TOPIC
• Not only are the African American
youth susceptible to losing a parent
under these circumstances, but they
are also a potential target of these
encounters.
 IMPORTANCE OF PARENT-ADOLESCENT
RELATIONSHIPS
• How are they important?
• The role parents play has the potential to alleviate some of the risks associated with
delinquency and other negative behaviors.
 LOSS OF A PARENT – EFFECT ON
ADOLESCENT’S BEHAVIORS

Internalized Externalized
• Depression • Isolation
• Anxiety • Sleep issues
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
• Suicide
• Anger
• An amplified probability for crime
• Shock convictions
• Concern
• Lower Self-Esteem
• Irritability

(Masterson, 2012: Melhem, Walker, Moritz, & Brent, 2008: Sikkelbroek, Bodden, (Dehlin & Reg, 2009: Masterson, 2012: Sikkelbroek, Bodden, Reitz, Vollebergh, &
Reitz, Vollebergh, & Baar, 2016) Baar, 2016: Wilcox et al., 2010)
 IMPLICATIONS AND SIGNIFICANCE

• Practical implications of this area of research suggest African American adolescents

are at a disadvantage for the loss of a parent to the hands of law enforcement in a
police-related shooting.
• Unless there is a shift in the way law enforcement perceives African Americans (as
well as an overall a shift in the systemic practices and ways of thinking) and trains
officers to engage with the African-American community, these killings are likely to
continue leaving more African American adolescents without mothers or fathers.
• My review helps connect African American adolescents, police shootings and
killings, and the internalized and externalized behaviors that this population of youth
are at risk to.
QUESTIONS?
 REFERENCES
• Dehlin, L. and Reg, L.M. (2009) ‘Adolescents’ experiences of a parent's serious illness and death’, Palliative and Supportive Care, 7(1), pp. 13–25. doi:
10.1017/S1478951509000042

• Weitzer, R. (2015). American Policing Under Fire: Misconduct and Reform. Soc Society, 52(5), 475-480. doi:10.1007/s12115-015-9931-1

• Beckett, C. (2000). Family Theory as a Framework for Assessment. Retrieved from http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~nur350-c/class/2_family/theory/lesson2-1-3.html

• Siebler, P. (2007). Sourcebook of family theory and research. Sage Publications.

• Rostila, M., & Saarela, J. M. (2011). Time Does Not Heal All Wounds: Mortality Following the Death of a Parent. Journal of Marriage and Family, 73(1), 236-249.
doi:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2010.00801.x

• Gilbert, K. L., & Ray, R. (2015). Why Police Kill Black Males with Impunity: Applying Public Health Critical Race Praxis (PHCRP) to Address the Determinants of Policing
Behaviors and “Justifiable” Homicides in the USA. Journal of Urban Health J Urban Health, 93(S1), 122-140. doi:10.1007/s11524-015-0005-x

• Brunson, R. K., & Weitzer, R. (2008). Police Relations with Black and White Youths in Different Urban Neighborhoods. Urban Affairs Review, 44(6), 858-885.
doi:10.1177/1078087408326973

• Nordberg, A., Crawford, M. R., Praetorius, R. T., & Hatcher, S. S. (2015). Exploring Minority Youths’ Police Encounters: A Qualitative Interpretive Meta-synthesis. Child and
Adolescent Social Work Journal Child Adolesc Soc Work J, 33(2), 137-149. doi:10.1007/s10560-015-0415-3

• Hair, E. C., Moore, K. A., Garrett, S. B., Ling, T. and Cleveland, K. (2008), The Continued Importance of Quality Parent–Adolescent Relationships During Late Adolescence.
Journal of Research on Adolescence, 18: 187–200. doi:10.1111/j.1532-7795.2008.00556.x

• Masterson, A. (2012). Retrospective Reports of the Lived School Experience of Adolescents After the Death of a Parent. The Journal of School Nursing, 29(5), 370-377.
doi:10.1177/1059840512469408

• Melhem, N. M., Walker, M., Moritz, G., & Brent, D. A. (2008). Antecedents and sequelae of sudden parental death in offspring and surviving caregivers. Archives of
pediatrics & adolescent medicine, 162(5), 403-410.

• 2015 Washington Post Database of Police Shootings. (2015). Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/police-shootings/

• Stikkelbroek, Y., Bodden, D. H. M., Reitz, E., Vollebergh, W. A. M., & Baar, A. L. v. (2016). Mental health of adolescents before and after the death of a parent or sibling.
European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 25(1), 49-59. doi:10.1007/s00787-015-0695-3

• Wilcox, H. C., Kuramoto, S. J., Lichtenstein, P., Långström, N., Brent, D. A., & Runeson, B. (2010). Psychiatric Morbidity, Violent Crime, and Suicide Among Children and
Adolescents Exposed to Parental Death. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 49(5), 514-523. doi:10.1097/00004583-201005000-00012