How Racial Attitudes Negate Support for Structural Police Reform among College Students

• In Event: Attitudes about Race, Racism, & Police

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore undergraduate students’ opinions of police reform during the summer of 2020. Using survey data from a private four-year University I use literature from collective action framing and modern racism theories to explain how students’ opinions toward police reform are better explained by their racial attitudes than by racially neutral perceptions of police fairness and ethicality. Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Ordinal Logit regressions suggest that students’ reform orientation, particularly for structural types of police reform, is largely a product of their recognition of systemic racism in policing. Additionally, gendered and political understandings of racial status hierarchies and policing condition men’s and Republicans’ recognition of racialized policing as well as stymie their support for structural police reform. Public opinion of police reform that seeks to ameliorate racialized policing should be further examined through individuals’ understanding of race and racism in policing.

Author

• Christian Elijah Law, Northeastern University