Race, Politics, and Policing: A Decade of Perceptions of Law Enforcement among America’s Youth

• In Event: 1-020 - Antecedents and Consequences of Legal Socialization among Ethnically-Racially Diverse Adolescents

Integrative Statement

In response to numerous deadly force incidents involving unarmed black youth in cities across the United States, police have been increasingly scrutinized by policymakers, the media, community stakeholders, and youth themselves. In particular, it is well-established that Black youth tend to view law enforcement more negatively than do White youth. At the same time, the modern era is marked by political divides which might affect the way individuals perceive law enforcement. Leveraging nationally-representative samples of 12th graders in the United States sampled each year from 2005 to 2016, this study examines the association between youth race, political preference, and perceptions of law enforcement. The results indicate that youths’ political preference plays an integral role in youths’ perceptions of law enforcement, such that Republican youth perceive law enforcement more positively than do Democratic youth throughout the 12 years. Interestingly, Republican youths' perceptions follow a U-shaped curve whereas Democratic youth exhibit an inverted U-shaped curve, with both groups' inflection point appearing in 2009 when President Obama took office. These diverging political trends appear to be particularly present among White youth and are somewhat less pronounced among Latinx youth. Critically, Black youths’ perceptions of law enforcement do not vary by political preference and have been declining rapidly among all youth across recent years regardless of political preference.

Authors

• Adam Fine, Arizona State University
  Presenting Author

• Cortney Simmons, University of California, Irvine
  Non-Presenting Author

• Zachary Rowan, Simon Fraser University
  Non-Presenting Author