Examining a Community-Based Approach to Assessing the Prevalence and Impact of Exposure to Perceived Racism-Based Police Involved Interactions for Black and Latinx Emerging Adults

A growing body of evidence makes plain that racism-based experiences (e.g., adverse experiences based upon one’s racialized identity) represent a major public health concern for Black and Latinx emerging adults 18 to 29 years of age in the United States, particularly considering the widespread prevalence of such events and related mental and health behavior consequences for these populations. However, at present, our understanding of the prevalence and consequences of exposure to racism-based events experienced at the hands of law among Black and Latinx emerging adults remains remarkably limited.

By some estimates, Black and Latinx emerging adults are disproportionately exposed to high rates of police-initiated violence in comparison to their counterparts from other ethnic groups. When police act as a mechanism to distribute violence disproportionately toward Black and Latinx emerging adults, some individuals from these populations may perceive the violent actions of the police as racism-based. Most measures examining the frequency of direct (as a victim or witnessing in person) or indirect (seen in media) exposure to police violence do not assess if the respondent perceived the actions of the police as racism-based. In the context of America’s inequitable policing practices in communities of color, it is crucial to use community-based strategies for the development of measures that will expand our understanding of the prevalence and impact of racism-based police violence for Black and Latinx emerging adults. This type of strategy can bolster efforts to improve procedurally just policing and health outcomes for Black and Latinx emerging adults.

This roundtable session will initiate dialogue about strategic community-based collaborations that can be used to develop measures that enable researchers to examine the frequency of exposure to perceived racism-based police violence and assess associated health outcomes for Black and Latinx emerging adults. First, two presenters (one Black and one Latinx) will discuss the role that community-based organizations can play in initiating conversations with Black and Latinx emerging adults about police violence. Second, two presenters (both Black emerging adults) will speak about the development of a community advisory board comprised of Black and Latinx emerging adults and their role in the development of culturally relevant survey items that capture exposure to perceived racism-based police violence. Lastly, a fifth presenter (Latinx) will discuss the role of expert content panelists in assessing the content validity of survey items that capture exposure to perceived racism-based police violence.

Emerging adulthood is a vulnerable period of development for Black and Latinx individuals due to their increased risk for police violence exposure. Our goal for this roundtable is to expand a discourse with social work researchers that will advance community-based approaches for the examination of a critical social issue involving racism-based events experienced at the hands of law enforcement for Black and Latinx emerging adults.