Police Relations with Black and White Youths in Different Urban Neighborhoods

• Published in: Urban affairs review (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) Vol. 44; no. 6; pp. 858 - 885
• Main Authors: Brunson, Rod K., Weitzer, Ronald
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.07.2009; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Adolescent boys; Adolescents; Adults; Black people; Black White Relations; Cities and towns; Citizens; Disadvantaged; Involuntary; Males; Missouri; Neighborhoods; Police; Police community relations; Police-Citizen interactions; Public relations; Race; Race relations; Saint Louis, Missouri; Urban areas; Whites; Young men; Youth; police misconduct; disadvantaged neighborhoods; police—community relations
• ISSN: 1078-0874; 1552-8332
• DOI: 10.1177/1078087408326973

Much of the research on police—citizen relations has focused on adults, not youth. Given that adolescents and particularly young males are more likely than adults to have involuntary and adversarial contacts with police officers, it is especially important to investigate their experiences with and perceptions of the police. This article examines the accounts of young Black and White males who reside in one of three disadvantaged St. Louis, Missouri, neighborhoods— one predominantly Black, one predominantly White, and the other racially mixed. In-depth interviews were conducted with the youths, and the authors' analysis centers on the ways in which both race and neighborhood context influence young males' orientations toward the police.