“We (still) charge genocide”: A systematic review and synthesis of the direct and indirect health consequences of police violence in the United States

Rahwa Haile, Tawandra Rowell-Cunsolo, Marie-Fatima Hyacinthe and Sirry Alang

Social Science & Medicine, 2023, vol. 322, issue C

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.

Keywords: Racism; Systematic review; Police violence; anti-Blackness; Social justice movements (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.115784

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