IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v334y2023ics0277953623005488.html

Understanding the impact of police brutality on Black sexually minoritized men

Author

Listed:
  • Quinn, Katherine G.
  • Edwards, Travonne
  • Johnson, Anthony
  • Takahashi, Lois
  • Dakin, Andrea
  • Bouacha, Nora
  • Voisin, Dexter

Abstract

Young Black gay, bisexual, and other sexually minoritized men (SMM) face high levels of police brutality and other negative, unwarranted encounters with the police. Such interactions have known health consequences. The purpose of this study was to understand the health, mental health, and social consequences of police brutality experienced by young Black SMM. We conducted in-depth interviews with 31 Black, cisgender men, ages of 16–30 and analyzed the data using thematic analysis. Our primary results are summarized in four themes: 1) Police brutality is built into the system and diminishes trust; 2) Videos and social media make visible violence that has long existed; 3) Police brutality contributes to anxiety and other psychosocial effects; and 4) Violence reduces feelings of safety and contributes to avoidance of police. Our results highlight the direct and vicarious police brutality participants are subjected to and sheds light on the effects of such violence on trust, perceived safety, anxiety, and trauma symptoms. Results from this study contribute to the needed public health conversation around police brutality against Black men, specifically shedding light on the experiences of Black SMM.

Suggested Citation

  • Quinn, Katherine G. & Edwards, Travonne & Johnson, Anthony & Takahashi, Lois & Dakin, Andrea & Bouacha, Nora & Voisin, Dexter, 2023. "Understanding the impact of police brutality on Black sexually minoritized men," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 334(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:334:y:2023:i:c:s0277953623005488
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116191
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953623005488
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116191?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Knox, Dean & Lowe, Will & Mummolo, Jonathan, 2020. "Administrative Records Mask Racially Biased Policing—CORRIGENDUM," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 114(4), pages 1394-1394, November.
    2. Kyriopoulos, Ilias & Vandoros, Sotiris & Kawachi, Ichiro, 2022. "Police killings and suicide among Black Americans," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 305(C).
    3. English, Devin & Carter, Joseph A. & Bowleg, Lisa & Malebranche, David J. & Talan, Ali J. & Rendina, H. Jonathon, 2020. "Intersectional social control: The roles of incarceration and police discrimination in psychological and HIV-related outcomes for Black sexual minority men," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).
    4. Geronimus, A.T. & Hicken, M. & Keene, D. & Bound, J., 2006. ""Weathering" and age patterns of allostatic load scores among blacks and whites in the United States," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 96(5), pages 826-833.
    5. Frank Edwards & Hedwig Lee & Michael Esposito, 2019. "Risk of being killed by police use of force in the United States by age, race–ethnicity, and sex," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 116(34), pages 16793-16798, August.
    6. Ford, Chandra L. & Airhihenbuwa, Collins O., 2010. "The public health critical race methodology: Praxis for antiracism research," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(8), pages 1390-1398, October.
    7. Roxane Cohen Silver & E. Alison Holman & Dana Rose Garfin, 2021. "Coping with cascading collective traumas in the United States," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 5(1), pages 4-6, January.
    8. Knox, Dean & Lowe, Will & Mummolo, Jonathan, 2020. "Administrative Records Mask Racially Biased Policing," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 114(3), pages 619-637, August.
    9. repec:plo:pone00:0229686 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Brewer, R.A. & Magnus, M. & Kuo, I. & Wang, L. & Liu, T.-Y. & Mayer, K.H., 2014. "The high prevalence of incarceration history among black men who have sex with men in the United States: Associations and implications," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 104(3), pages 448-454.
    11. García, J.J.-L. & Sharif, M.Z., 2015. "Black lives matter: A commentary on racism and public health," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 105(8), pages 27-30.
    12. Carbonaro, Richard, 2022. "System avoidance and social isolation: Mechanisms connecting police contact and deleterious health outcomes," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 301(C).
    13. Geller, A. & Fagan, J. & Tyler, T. & Link, B.G., 2014. "Aggressive policing and the mental health of young urban men," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 104(12), pages 2321-2327.
    14. Fields, E.L. & Bogart, L.M. & Galvan, F.H. & Wagner, G.J. & Klein, D.J. & Schuster, M.A., 2013. "Association of discrimination-related trauma with sexual risk among HIV-positive African American men who have sex with men," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 103(5), pages 875-880.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Quinn, Katherine G. & Neal, Melissa L. & Valencia, Jesus & Hirschtick, Jana L. & Washington, DeJuan & Jacobs, Jacquelyn & Hunt, Bijou R., 2025. "A qualitative examination of how direct and indirect police violence shapes perceptions of police, sense of safety, and the mental health of Black adults in Chicago," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 374(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pickett, Justin & Graham, Amanda & Nix, Justin & Cullen, Francis T., 2022. "Officer Diversity May Reduce Black Americans’ Fear of the Police," SocArXiv 7mrgp_v1, Center for Open Science.
    2. Desmond Ang & Panka Bencsik & Jesse Bruhn & Ellora Derenoncourt, 2021. "Police violence reduces civilian cooperation and engagement with law enforcement," Working Papers 2021-16, Princeton University. Economics Department..
    3. Gian Maria Campedelli, 2022. "Explainable Machine Learning for Predicting Homicide Clearance in the United States," Papers 2203.04768, arXiv.org.
    4. Anuli Njoku & Marcelin Joseph & Rochelle Felix, 2021. "Changing the Narrative: Structural Barriers and Racial and Ethnic Inequities in COVID-19 Vaccination," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-14, September.
    5. Schuessler, Julian, 2024. "Causal analysis with observational data," OSF Preprints wam94, Center for Open Science.
    6. Alston, Mackenzie & Owens, Emily, 2025. "Does black and blue matter? An experimental investigation of race, perceptions of police, and legal compliance," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 249(C).
    7. Charles Crabtree & John B. Holbein & J. Quin Monson, 2022. "Patient traits shape health-care stakeholders’ choices on how to best allocate life-saving care," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 6(2), pages 244-257, February.
    8. Cohen R. Simpson & David S. Kirk, 2023. "Is Police Misconduct Contagious? Non-trivial Null Findings from Dallas, Texas," Journal of Quantitative Criminology, Springer, vol. 39(2), pages 425-463, June.
    9. Annan-Phan, Sébastien & Ba, Bocar A., 2024. "JUE Insight: Hot temperatures, aggression, and death at the hands of the police: Evidence from the U.S," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    10. Quinn, Katherine G. & Neal, Melissa L. & Valencia, Jesus & Hirschtick, Jana L. & Washington, DeJuan & Jacobs, Jacquelyn & Hunt, Bijou R., 2025. "A qualitative examination of how direct and indirect police violence shapes perceptions of police, sense of safety, and the mental health of Black adults in Chicago," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 374(C).
    11. Aliprantis, Dionissi & Martin, Hal & Tauber, Kristen, 2024. "What determines the success of housing mobility programs?," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    12. Frank Edwards, 2025. "Bias, risk, racism: Reconciling critical and quantitative approaches to understanding racial inequality in child welfare system outcomes," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(2), pages 693-706, March.
    13. Maximilian Kasy, 2024. "Algorithmic bias and racial inequality: a critical review," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 40(3), pages 530-546.
    14. repec:osf:osfxxx:wam94_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Ian T. Adams & Joshua McCrain & Daniel S. Schiff & Kaylyn Jackson Schiff & Scott M. Mourtgos, 2025. "Police reform from the top down: Experimental evidence on police executive support for civilian oversight," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(2), pages 403-427, March.
    16. Desmond Ang & Panka Bencsik & Jesse Bruhn & Ellora Derenoncourt, 2023. "Shots Fired: Crime and Community Engagement with Law Enforcement after High-profile Acts of Police Violence," Working Papers 315, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Policy Studies..
    17. Lauren Ceh & Katherine Herrmann & Stephan Munari & Ryan Sullivan & Simon Véronneau, 2026. "Securing critical maritime and Navy infrastructures: A workforce analysis of the Navy Security Forces," Journal of Transportation Security, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 1-34, December.
    18. Subica, Andrew M. & Link, Bruce G., 2022. "Cultural trauma as a fundamental cause of health disparities," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 292(C).
    19. Lucy C. Sorensen & Andrea M. Headley & Stephen B. Holt, 2025. "On the margin: Who receives a juvenile referral in school and what effect does it have?," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(4), pages 1171-1193, September.
    20. Christoph Valentin Steinert, 2023. "The duration of political imprisonment: Evidence from China," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 40(4), pages 349-372, July.
    21. Carbonaro, Richard, 2022. "System avoidance and social isolation: Mechanisms connecting police contact and deleterious health outcomes," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 301(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:334:y:2023:i:c:s0277953623005488. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.