Study: Cops see black children as older, less innocent than white children.

[tblue37]

this thread, about cops stopping and handcuffing a young black woman driving a dark red Nissan, when the suspects they were after were 4 adult black males in a tan or beige Toyota

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=5437704

The woman's 4 young kids (ages 6-10) were in the car, and during her detainment, her 6-year-old son exited with his hands in the air and approached the cops. One cop said to the other, "Does he look young to you?"--as though there could be any question at all whether a little 6-year-old boy was young!

Thank goodness they didn't shoot him--but I fear that they all too easily could have, since he was, after all, black and male. The way a TV station "thuggified" a little 4-year-old boy (relevant DU thread here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025435229 ) shows how even very young black children are seen as "thugs" by racists.

Here is the link to the thread about that ridiculous (and racist) stop:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=5437704

And here is the part of my reply that I want to turn into an OP for further discussion:

http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2014/03/black-boys-older.aspx

[font size = "+1"][font color = "red"]Black Boys Viewed as Older, Less Innocent Than Whites, Research Finds:
Police likelier to use force against black children when officers ‘dehumanize’ blacks, study says[/font][/font]

WASHINGTON — Black boys as young as 10 may not be viewed in the same light of childhood innocence as their white peers, but are instead more likely to be mistaken as older, be perceived as guilty and face police violence if accused of a crime, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association.

<snip>


The study also involved 264 mostly white, female undergraduate students from large public U.S. universities. In one experiment, students rated the innocence of people ranging from infants to 25-year-olds who were black, white or an unidentified race. The students judged children up to 9 years old as equally innocent regardless of race, but considered black children significantly less innocent than other children in every age group beginning at age 10, the researchers found.

The students were also shown photographs alongside descriptions of various crimes and asked to assess the age and innocence of white, black or Latino boys ages 10 to 17. The students overestimated the age of blacks by an average of 4.5 years and found them more culpable than whites or Latinos, particularly when the boys were matched with serious crimes, the study found. Researchers used questionnaires to assess the participants’ prejudice and dehumanization of blacks. They found that participants who implicitly associated blacks with apes thought the black children were older and less innocent.

<snip>

“The evidence shows that perceptions of the essential nature of children can be affected by race, and for black children, this can mean they lose the protection afforded by assumed childhood innocence well before they become adults,” said co-author Matthew Jackson, PhD, also of UCLA. “With the average age overestimation for black boys exceeding four-and-a-half years, in some cases, black children may be viewed as adults when they are just 13 years old” <emphasis added>.

[Louisiana1976]

1. That's sad. All children should be regarded as innocent. I wonder if that affects how they're

disciplined in school too.

[tblue37]

2. Definitely. Black children, boys especially, are often *expelled from preschool*

for misbehavior that would normally just lead to time outs for white kids, or at worst a note sent home to the parents.

[tblue37]

3. Self-kick, because I think this is important--and highly relevant to recent events. nt

[tblue37]

4. Self-kick to get more visibility for this information. nt

[gollygee]

5. Kick

This needs tons of discussion. All human beings deserve to have their lives valued, and this dehumanization of African Americans, including even young children, is horrifying. Beyond horrifying. I am not a believer, but this strikes me as a major, huge, go-to-hell type of sin- to treat people like this. I don't understand how anyone with any humanity at all can treat other human beings the way African Americans in our country are being treated. Too many white people act like their lives don't matter. People who would argue forever that a 3-week-fetus deserves to be treated like a human being aren't treating African American adults and children like human beings.

We need Ferguson-style protests in every single town and city. Something. I don't know but we can't relax about this and "get over it." We have to remain angry and horrified.

[tblue37]

6. This!!

People who would argue forever that a 3-week-fetus deserves to be treated like a human being aren't treating African American adults and children like human beings.

[tblue37]

7. I agree that this needs a lot of discussion, which is why I started

shamelessly self-kicking this thread when no one seemed to be seeing it.

[gollygee]

8. I feel like

not enough people care about the things that are really important.

[Starry Messenger]

9. k&r

[tblue37]

10. Another case that shows this sort of thinking--

This is the same cop we see in a video arresting two reporters for being in McDonald's:

"Ferguson Police Officer Justin Cosma Hog-Tied And Injured A Young Child, Lawsuit Alleges"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/24/justin-cosma-ferguson-police_n_5705409.html?utm_hp_ref=tw

[gollygee]

11. kick for the morning

[treestar]

12. By mostly female white undergraduates

not "cops."

[gollygee]

13. You missed the word "also"

Here's what comes just before that:

Researchers tested 176 police officers, mostly white males, average age 37, in large urban areas, to determine their levels of two distinct types of bias — prejudice and unconscious dehumanization of black people by comparing them to apes. To test for prejudice, researchers had officers complete a widely used psychological questionnaire with statements such as “It is likely that blacks will bring violence to neighborhoods when they move in.” To determine officers’ dehumanization of blacks, the researchers gave them a psychological task in which they paired blacks and whites with large cats, such as lions, or with apes. Researchers reviewed police officers’ personnel records to determine use of force while on duty and found that those who dehumanized blacks were more likely to have used force against a black child in custody than officers who did not dehumanize blacks. The study described use of force as takedown or wrist lock; kicking or punching; striking with a blunt object; using a police dog, restraints or hobbling; or using tear gas, electric shock or killing. Only dehumanization and not police officers’ prejudice against blacks — conscious or not — was linked to violent encounters with black children in custody, according to the study.

The authors noted that police officers’ unconscious dehumanization of blacks could have been the result of negative interactions with black children, rather than the cause of using force with black children. “We found evidence that overestimating age and culpability based on racial differences was linked to dehumanizing stereotypes, but future research should try to clarify the relationship between dehumanization and racial disparities in police use of force,” Goff said.

[Heidi]

14. Kick, kick, kick!!!

[tblue37]

16. Thanks. nt

[leftyladyfrommo]

15. Please don't flame me for this

but little kids that grow up in rough neighborhoods are way more sophisticated about everything than little kids that grow up in a protected environment.

I don't think it's a race thing. I think it's a poverty thing. There are tons of white kids growing up in poverty that are just as street smart. It just comes with the territory. You want to survive you get smart fast.

[Cali_Democrat]

17. You're correct. Look at Adam Lanza and the Colorado theater shooter

Both white males who grew up in upper class neighborhoods and protected environments.

[leftyladyfrommo]

18. Have all these kid mass shooters been from wealthy families?

I don't think any of them have been the street smart kids from the violent neighborhoods. There is a lot of violence in those communities but it's not the same kind of violence. Those kids don't just go into some public place and starting mowing people down.