Viewing violent policing videos contributes to trauma symptoms for Black Americans

Glenna L Read; Harry Y Yan; Rachel L Bailey

doi:10.1037/cdp0000632

Viewing violent policing videos contributes to trauma symptoms for Black Americans

Cultur Divers Ethnic Minor Psychol. 2023 Nov 2. doi: 10.1037/cdp0000632. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Glenna L Read¹, Harry Y Yan², Rachel L Bailey³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Advertising and Public Relations, Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Georgia.
² Media School, Indiana University.
³ School of Communication, Florida State University.

PMID: 37917479
DOI: 10.1037/cdp0000632

Abstract

Objective: This research investigates how watching videos of police violence and experiences with police contributes to health disparities in well-being that disproportionately negatively affect Black Americans.

Method: A large-scale survey of Americans (n = 1,240; n_{Black American} = 286, n_White _American = 954) examined the impact of negative experiences with police and watching violent policing videos as distal (i.e., external) stressors that contribute to symptoms of trauma. The proximal (i.e., internal) stressor of worrying about being stereotyped as criminal by police was also examined.

Results: Those who identified as Black were more likely to report negative experiences with police, exposure to violent policing videos, and greater worry about being stereotyped as criminal by police than those who identified as White. The three stressors were, in turn, associated with experiencing trauma symptoms.

Conclusions: Exposure to violent policing videos is disproportionately associated with well-being for Black Americans, even when accounting for direct experiences with police. These findings demonstrate the importance of considering vicarious trauma in therapeutic settings and have implications for dissemination of these videos through media channels. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).