The first chapter of your Dissertation Proposal is an overview of your study and is a synthesis of the material you inc

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An Examination of Police Brutality and its Impact on Victims’ Families

Jamisha Riddick

WaldenU

Title: An Examination of Police Brutality and Its Impact on Victims’ Families

Social Problem

Police brutality has negative effects on the victims themselves because the victims' families are also affected by it. Police violence leads to mental health issues and sometimes death to the victims, which affects their families (Brunson & Wade, 2019). According to Miller and Vittrup (2020), it is estimated that since 2015, more than 1,000 people are killed annually by the police per The Mapping Police Violence Project.

Gaps in Literature

Limited research has been conducted to determine how police brutality affects the victims' families and how it affects them. Research by Miller & Vittrup suggested that police violence causes either death or physical and emotional injury to people who directly experience it. According to Miller & Vittrup, communities are also affected mentally by high-profile incidents of police violence. For family members and friends who see their loved one injured or killed by the police under unexpected and unexplained circumstances can be terrifying (Miller & Vittrup, 2020).

Purpose

The focus of this research is to study the effects of police brutality on victims' families. It aims at forming a connection between police brutality and its economic, psychological, and emotional impact on the well-being of victims' families (Miller & Vittrup, 2020). The research would study how the families of police brutality coped with seeing their family members injured or killed by law enforcement officers. The research study will advance the body of research concerning the impact of police brutality on the mental, social, psychological, and emotional well-being of victims’ families.

Significance

The findings of this research study cover a gap in the existing literature on police brutality by focusing on the perspective of the impact it has on the victims’ families as opposed to focusing racial profiling which has an abundance of previous researchers. The research on the effects of police brutality on victims’ families will supplement existing but limited research. There is existing literature on the issues affecting the families of the victims of police violence, and my research aims to add to the existing research. My research will provide professionals in the criminal justice system with information on how police brutality affects the families of the victims and the community. Victims of police brutality, have been consistently inattentive, branded, and even injured normally in research studies (Lyons et al. 2013).

The significance of this research aligns with the problem statement because of the alarming rate with which incidents of police brutality continue to increase poses a great population health risk, and stakeholders in the criminal justice system must be made aware of its dangers so that they can work on ways to reduce it and punish perpetrators (Miller & Vittrup, 2020). The findings of this research can be used to present evidence of how police brutality is affecting families and offer insight to the society on the proper measures that are put in place to protect people from police violence.

Background

The main keywords used to search for materials on the topic, 'effects of police violence on victims' families' on online databases, included mental health, social status, economic status, police violence, victim’s families, well-being, and psychological health (Alang et al., 2017). The online databases included those of different criminal justice departments across the United States and SAGE journals.

1. Miller & Vittrup (2020) provides information on both the direct and indirect impact of police and racial bias on the families of African American victims.

2. Bryant‐Davis et al., 2017 discuss about police brutality on racial and ethnic minorities and its effects on the families and communities of this population.

3. Brunson & Wade (2019) talks of how the police find it hard to gain the cooperation of communities on investigations such as urban gun violence. The article suggests that the reason for this may be because of how most communities have been direct and indirect victims of the effects of police brutality and that is why they do not trust them.

4. Alang et al., 2017 discusses about the effects of police brutality on the health of African Americans who happen to be the victims of police violence at disproportionate rates. This article provides insights that can be used by scholars in the sector of public health.

Theoretical Framework

The critical race theory is a practice of interrogating the role of racism and race in society. The critical race theory critiques how institutionalized racism and social construction of race and maintains a racial status system that lowers people of color to the bottom tiers. The critical race theory maintains that racism is not an issue of the past (Delgado & Stefancic, 2017). The theory acknowledges that the legacy of segregation, slavery, and the burden of second-class citizenship on African Americans and other people of color continues to exist in the social fabric of the United States.

The critical race theory relates to the issue of police brutality and its effects on the victims’ families keeping in mind that race is not biologically real but rather a socially constructed issue. The critical race theory states that racism is a problem that is codified in law and embedded into structured and public policies. Therefore, the issue of police brutality especially towards the African American population in disproportionate rates is caused by institutionalized racism and some public policies.

The critical race theory acts as the theoretical framework that explains the high rates of police brutality especially towards Black males. The negative stereotypes directed towards Black males creates an environment that justified killings and violence towards the said population by law enforcement officials. The critical race theory explains the concept of White Supremacy and how it has extended police brutality towards the African and African American population. The theory explains the history of racism and the part it plays in contemporary racism and oppression of the inferior races (Delgado & Stefancic, 2017). The history of racism, as explained by the critical race theory explains how racism evolves, giving an example of how long ago, Black men used to be lynched due to racial stereotypes, to how currently Black men are being victims of police brutality at disproportionate rates.

Research Questions

The main research question is what impact has police brutality had on the families of the victims How has the family experience impacted their perception of the police? How does race play a critical role in police brutality?

Research Methods

The nature of this study would be qualitative research with a repeated measures design with consistent comprehension of how families of victims of police brutality cope with seeing their loved one injured either physically or emotionally or killed at the hands of law enforcement agents. The research would use the phenomenological method that attempts to understand and make sense of the meanings of experiences of people. This research attempts to understand the experiences of families who have had their family members either killed or injured by police officers through police violence.

Sources of Data

The main sources of data would be the participants themselves and literature materials on the same topic and problem statement. The literature materials would be sorted according to relevance in terms of time and data presented. The literature materials would serve to supplement the information gathered from the phenomenological research.

Limitations, Challenges, or Barriers

The main challenge with conducting this research is that victims’ families may be reluctant to provide any information on how they have been forced to cope with the idea that their loved one was either injured or killed by people who were supposed to protect them. The reluctance could be from the fear of being a target for the perpetrators who would not want their identities revealed (Bryant‐Davis, T., Adams et al., 2017). Families may also be reluctant because they would not like to relive their worst nightmare as they recounted their experiences of seeing their loved on in pain or dead.

Aligned Research Study

This research problem statement aligns with the social problem which is how police brutality affects victims’ families. It also aligns with the research method which is a phenomenological study. The phenomenological study seeks to explain and gain understanding of human experiences. The research question also aligns with the research problem, which is the effects of police brutality of victims’ families.

References

Alang, S., McAlpine, D., McCreedy, E., & Hardeman, R. (2017). Police brutality and black health: setting the agenda for public health scholars. American journal of public health, 107(5), 662-665.

Brunson, R. K., & Wade, B. A. (2019). “Oh, hell no, we don't talk to police” Insights on the lack of cooperation in police investigations of urban gun violence. Criminology & Public Policy, 18(3), 623-648.

Bryant‐Davis, T., Adams, T., Alejandre, A., & Gray, A. A. (2017). The trauma lens of police violence against racial and ethnic minorities. Journal of Social Issues, 73(4), 852-871.

Delgado, R., &, J. (2017). Critical race theory. New York University Press.

Lyons, H. Z., Bike, D. H., Ojeda, L., Johnson, A., Rosales, R. & Flores, L. Y. (2013). Qualitative research as social justice practice with culturally diverse populations. Journal of Social Action in Counseling & Psychology, 5(2), 10-25.

Miller, C., & Vittrup, B. (2020). The indirect effects of police racial bias on African American families. Journal of Family Issues, 41(10), 1699-1722.

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