Conceptualizing Police Violence for Research on Youth Exposure to Community Violence

• In Event: Contemporary Issues in Youth Justice: A Selection of Unique and Impactful Contributions

Abstract

Violence is a global health concern for youth development as governments have expanded and militarized policing to address public safety, including their role in community violence reduction initiatives. The scholarship on youth experiences with the police has demonstrated a growing awareness of their practices, effects, and outcomes. However, research on exposure to community violence in the developmental sciences have overlooked violence by the police, necessitating an integration of police violence towards a more comprehensive understanding of youth development. For this paper, inconsistencies in defining and describing violence within the youth, policing, and policy literature are first discussed. A central theme is how actions by police officers are characterized differently compared to private citizens. Key lessons from developmental science research on exposure to community violence (ECV) are then contrasted with the policing literature and their implications for ECV research. Lastly, the WHO’s framework is advanced for conceptualizing violence by the police. Implications and applications for developmental science ECV research and violence reduction initiatives are discussed.

Author

• Franklin Steven Moreno, Temple University