Police shootings, violent crime, race and socio-economic factors in municipalities in the United States of America.

BACKGROUND: Both police shootings and violent crime remain high in the United States of America compared to other developed nations but debates continue about whether race, mental health or other social factors are related to them. AIMS: Our aim was to test relationships between community factors indicative of socio-economic status, racial demographics, police shootings, and violent crime. METHODS: Data on police shootings, violent crime and community sociodemographic factors were drawn from two publicly accessible datasets: health and police records of 100 US municipalities and relationships between them explored using regression analyses. RESULTS: Data were from the 100 largest US municipalities as designated by the mapping police violence database. The median per capital violent crime rate was 5.94 and median killings by police per 10 thousand arrests was 13.7. Violent crime was found to be related mainly to income inequality and lower academic achievement in the community. Race was unrelated to violent crime after controlling for other factors. Police shootings were found to be related to community level mental health concerns, food insecurity and the municipality's violent crime rate. CONCLUSION: The evidence suggests that socio-economic factors are the primary drivers of both violent crime perpetration and police shootings. Policy approaches aimed at improving education and reducing poverty are likely to mitigate both violent crime and police shootings. However, it is important to recognise that being Black is an indicator of particular disadvantage within this context. This underscores the need for comprehensive strategies that address the systemic issues of racial disparities and socio-economic inequality, while also acknowledging the complex interplay of race, poverty and policing in the context of violent crime and police shootings.

Twitter impact on a community trauma: An examination of who, what, and why it radiated.

The study examined the radiating impacts of trauma following the officer-involved shooting of Alton Sterling. Twitter data (#AltonSterling) was collected, filtered, and analyzed using textual and spatial methods. Primary coding encompassed the 30-day period immediately following the shooting. In general, tweets were not used to convey either facts or neutral information, rather, personal opinions dominated. The immediate responses were largely grounded in fear and/or violence. One particularly illuminating finding was the absence of messaging and silence from local leadership. Social media can be a tool to either provide consolatory messaging to promote healing and health, or to spread inflammatory exchanges that perpetuate community discord, further fracture communities and groups, and elevate the risk of retraumatization. Local organizations need established protocols for using social media proactively in the aftermath of community trauma; social media can be a powerful tool for enhancing community cohesion, recovery, and resilience.

Disrupting the Trauma- To - Prison Pipeline For Justice-Involved Young Women Victimized By Violence.

Background: Rates of aggressive offending among Justice-Involved Young Women (JIYW) have increased over the past few decades. Yet, there is little discourse, research, or intervention to address it among young women. Aims/hypotheses: This study hypothesized that a higher capacity for self-restraint measured on the Weinberger Adjustment Inventory (WAI) scale among 14-18-year-old JIYW would moderate the relationship between the exposure to violence and serious aggressive offending. Methods: The pathways to desistance project, a multi-site, longitudinal study, included a sample of JIYW aged 14-18 years old (n = 184). The baseline data were analyzed using linear multiple regression. Results: After controlling for two variables, race and neighborhood conditions, the overall model was significant (F = 8.31 (df = 7,176), p = .001). The predictor variables (exposure to violence and self-restraint) explained 25% of the outcome variable (level of aggressive offending). The moderation result was significant such that higher self-restraint weakens the relationship between exposure to violence and aggressive offending (B = - 0.01, t (176) = -2.39, p = .018). Conclusions/implications: This study highlights the need to disrupt the trauma- to- prison pipeline by enhancing positive social skills in a trauma-responsive manner, which could mitigate the effect of exposure to violence among JIYW.

Correction to: Disrupting the Trauma- To - Prison Pipeline For Justice-Involved Young Women Victimized By Violence.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1007/s40653-022-00488-9.].