Citation

Haile R, Rowell-Cunsolo T, Hyacinthe MF, Alang S. Soc. Sci. Med. 2023; 322: e115784.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.115784

PMID

36863215

Abstract

Building on historical and contemporary efforts to eliminate police and other forms of state violence, and on the understanding that police violence is a social determinant of health, we conducted a systematic review in which we synthesize the existing literature around 1) racial disparities in police violence; 2) health impacts of direct exposure to police violence; and 3) health impacts of indirect exposure to police violence. We screened 336 studies and excluded 246, due to not meeting our inclusion criteria. Forty-eight additional studies were excluded during the full text review, resulting in a study sample size of 42 studies. Our review showed that Black people in the US are far more likely than white people to experience a range of forms of police violence: from fatal and nonfatal shootings, to assault and psychological violence. Exposure to police violence increases risk of multiple adverse health outcomes. Moreover, police violence may operate as a vicarious and ecological exposure, producing consequences beyond those directly assaulted. In order to successfully eliminate police violence, scholars must work in alignment with social justice movements.

Language: en

Keywords

Systematic review; anti-Blackness; Police violence; Racism; Social justice movements