Read Aloud the Text Content

This audio was created by Woord's Text to Speech service by content creators from all around the world.

Text Content or SSML code:

Chapter 1: Introduction: Racism-Based Trauma and Policing among Black Emerging Adults 1.1 Background and Significance Arnett (2016) defined emerging adulthood as the period spanning from the late teens to roughly 29 years of age, with a specific focus on individuals 18 to 25 years of age, when exploration and instability are common. It is a period of identity exploration, self-focus, transition, and perceived possibilities. Emerging adulthood differs from young adulthood in that the former life stage consists of individuals who are either engaged in tertiary education or have not yet entered into marriage, parenthood, and stable full-time work (Arnett, 2004; Mathews & Hamilton, 2016; U.S. Census Bureau, 2019), whereas the later stage of life refers to individuals who have taken on the aforementioned responsibilities that constitutes the stable structure of adulthood (Arnett, 2004; Arnett 2016; Tanner & Arnett, 2009). However, emerging adulthood is also a potentially high-risk time for community violence exposure (CVE), particularly for Black emerging adults. CVE is defined as direct (e.g., victimization or witnessing the event in person) or indirect (e.g., learned about the event from someone or through media) exposure to intentional acts of interpersonal violence (e.g., assaults, homicide, and other types of serious physical harm) committed in public areas by individuals who are not intimately related (Fowler et al., 2008; Wilson & Rosenthal, 2003). Research suggested that the high frequency of CVE among Black emerging adults is due to their disproportionate overrepresentation in poor communities marked by high rates of violence (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017; Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2015). In addition, aggressive community policing practices in these “hot spots” and surrounding areas put Black emerging adults at risk of exposure to police use of force that may be excessive 1 and lethal (Edwards, Lee, & Esposito, 2019; Eith & Durose, 2011; Hickman et al., 2008; Hyland et al., 2015; Reppetto, 2012; Ross, 2015; Terrill & Mastrofski, 2002). Exposure to police use of force in America is one type of CVE that has attracted national attention due to the killings of 18-year-old Michael Brown by officer Darren Wilson of Ferguson (MO) Police Department, 26-year-old Breonna Taylor by a Louisville (KY) Metro Police Officer, 46-year-old George Floyd by Minneapolis (MN) Police Officer Derek Chauvin, 27 year- old Rayshard Brooks by Officer Garrett Rolfe of the Atlanta (GA) Police Department, and the serious injury resulting from the shooting of 29-year-old Jacob Blake by Officer Rusten Sheskey of the Kenosha (WI) Police Department (Altman, 2020; Daragahi, 2020; Hoyt, 2016; McCarthy, 2020; McLaughlin, 2015; Miller, 2016; Motley & Joe, 2018). The current milieu in America is filled with cries, protests, and strong demands for transformative policies and practices that hold police accountable for the callous treatment and killing of its Black citizenry, particularly Black emerging adults (Motley et al., 2020). Nationally, Black emerging adults are three to four times more likely to experience exposure to police threat or use of force (Durose et al., 2007; Eith & Durose, 2011; Hickman et al., 2008; Hyland et al., 2015) and are two to three times more likely to be unarmed and killed in comparison to their White counterparts (DeGue et al., 2016; Edwards et al., 2019; Ross, 2015; The Guardian, 2018; The Washington Post, 2018). Prior research suggests that exposure to police use of force may be experienced as a race- based traumatic event by some Black emerging adults (Bryant-Davis & Ocampo 2005; Carll, 2007; Carter, 2007; Carter & Sant-Barket, 2015; Polanco-Roman et al., 2016; Utsey et al., 2002), and some Black emerging adults may engage in substance use as a form of self-medication to 2 cope with their race-based traumatic experiences (Borrell et al., 2007; Danielson et al., 2009; Gibbons et al., 2010). The Classes of Racism Frequency of Racial Experiences (CRFRE) measure (Carter et al., 2016) was developed to assess individuals’ exposure to perceived racism-based events. However, the CRFRE hostile-racism scale does not capture specific types of exposure (both direct and indirect) to perceived racism-based police use of force events or the range of police use of force events that are most salient for a population . In addition, the nature of the relationship between exposure to racism-based police use of force, race-based trauma symptoms, and substance use is unknown. Developing items that capture exposure to perceived racism-based police use of force will advance our methodology for quantifying these events and contribute to our knowledge of the prevalence and population level disparities in such exposures for Black emerging adults. Understanding factors that are associated with exposure to racism-based police use of force and serve as pathways to increased substance use for Black emerging adults may inform culturally specific substance use prevention/intervention programs for this population. Moreover, knowledge gained from this study could inform policy and law enforcement training focused on safe, humane, and equitable methods of policing that ensure the personal safety of Black citizenry and particularly emerging adults. 1.2 Purpose of the Study Current measures do not enable researchers to quantify direct (e.g., victimization or witnessing the event in person) and indirect (e.g., learned about through media) exposure to perceived racism-based police use of force for Black emerging adults or examine the role of race-based trauma symptoms in the relationship between exposure to racism-based police use of 3 force and substance use for Black emerging adults. Therefore, the objectives of this cross- sectional, mixed-methods study were to: 1. Identify key survey items to add to the CRFRE hostile-racism scale that captured direct and indirect exposure to perceived racism-based police use of force using focus groups, cognitive interviews, and a content expert panel. 2. Assess the psychometric properties of the modified CRFRE measure. 3. Test the potential mediating effects of race-based trauma symptoms on the relationship between exposure to racism-based police use of force and substance use (illicit drugs and alcohol).