Race-Moderated Associations between Ethnic Identity, Social Justice, and Beliefs about Law Enforcement Among MSW Students in the Southern United States

Background: Rooted in critical race theory, which undergirds beliefs in White Supremacy, and in conflict theory, a framework that justifies racial resentment, the current study evaluated a hierarchical linear regression(HLR) model that tested the moderating effects of race on the association between ethnic identity (EI; 12-item Multi-ethnic Identity Measure) and respondents' beliefs about law enforcement (BALE); and between social justice (SJ; 15-item Social Justice Scale) and BALE, as measured with the 11-item BALE scale, which assessed participants' beliefs about police use of force with Black U.S. Americans. Higher BALE scale scores indicate more negative beliefs. The HLR model tested the following change hypotheses: SJ and EI are associated with BALE [H₁] and race moderates the associations between EI and BALE [H₂] and between SJ and BALE [H₃]. The interaction between EI and race on BALE shows a positive association for American/Black/Multiracial(AABM) students, and a negative association for White students; and the effect of SJ on BALE for AABM students is stronger compared to White students.

Methods: Cross-sectional survey data were collected from a convenience sample of 229 MSW students in a public university in the southern United States(female=89.5%). In the HLR model, BALE was the dependent variable, EI and SJ comprised the independent variables, and participants' race, defined as AABM or White(reference group), was the moderator. Control variables included age, underrepresented group(reference group=no), and location(reference group=rural). Moderated hierarchical multiple regression analysis using SPSS 26 tested the hypotheses. To build the HLR model, control variables were first regressed on respondents' BALE scale scores. The next step added AABM race, EI, and SJ. The final step included two additional interaction terms: EI X AABM; SJ X AABM.

Results: SJ was associated with BALE (B=0.83,p<.001), but EI was not [H₁]. The interaction results indicated that race moderated the association between EI and BALE (B=0.53,p<.05), and between SJ and BALE (B=-0.63,p<.01). The decomposition of the first interaction [H₂] indicated that AABM students with higher levels of EI showed increased levels of BALE, while those with lower levels of EI had decreased levels of BALE. In contrast, White students with stronger levels of EI showed decreased levels of BALE, while those with weaker levels of EI showed increased levels of BALE. The decomposition of the second interaction [H₃] showed that both AABM and White students with lower levels of SJ showed decreased levels of BALE, while those with higher levels of SJ exhibited increased levels. The overall effect of SJ on BALE was greater for AABM than for White students.

Conclusions/Implications: Only the MSW students with higher levels of SJ reported more negative beliefs about police use of force with Black U.S. Americans (H₁ was partially supported). In addition, the effects of EI and SJ on BALE differ depending on racial group. AABM students showed increased levels of BALE when they have stronger levels of EI or SJ (H₂ and H₃ were fully supported). Findings point to important differences between AABM and White MSW students regarding beliefs about police violence against Black U.S. Americans.