Kenya Down's Article 'PTSD-Like Trauma'

Police brutality and office involved shootings have sparked national debate and created a strain between police officers and citizens. Recently, there have been more home videos that display acts of aggression by police officers. These police officers often use excessive forces or a condescending tone towards people of color which is why there needs to be a better way to mend police and civilian relationship. People should be able to trust the police in their communities rather than fear them.

The brutality of the police force has been a long worldwide problem, but especially between the years of 2012-2016. Black people are being unjustly beaten and shot in plain sight for doing nothing while being unarmed. Journal of African American Studies “Blacks are viewed as deserving of harsh treatment in the criminal justice system” (482). “Black males with more “Afrocentric” features may receive longer sentences than blacks with less Afrocentric features like lighter skin and straighter hair”(482). Nowadays it is important to know about the police force. It’s important to know our rights as citizens and be careful around cops. Not everybody is good, but not everybody is bad also. In The New York Amsterdam News 21 people were killed by Chicago police in 2008. Entire families were being attacked. They believe it’s because of their skin color and how they are different. The year of racism started off with the world seeing the police murder of Oscar Grant. “The media have pushed people away from hearing the issue of police brutality, and it has fallen off of the radar screen.”(2) “You can’t give in. They will try to make an example out of you, try to break your spirit!”(2) African Americans say do not trust the cops with anything. “They will ruin you.”(2)

As I witnessed the videos and sound recordings of the police killings of these Black youth: Trayvon Martin, Aiyana Stanley-Jones, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice and Darnisha Harris, I, too, lost hope for racial equality and developed a fear of law enforcement that still exists to this day. These emotions are quite common amongst Black youth, yet the presence of such is

"Post Traumatic Stress Disorder." Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Nebraska Department of Veterans' Affairs, 2007. Web. 07 Apr. 2014.

Chapter 4 in The Color of Justice: Race, ethnicity, and crime in America, was about the relations between society and law enforcement officers. This has been a major topic, especially in the United States for a long time. The unfortunate statistic that minorities are more likely to encounter being killed, arrested, and victimized by excessive physical force; has been a real issue even in today’s society. However, police departments are trying to combat the way police officers interact with the community; especially those of color. Although steps have been takes there are still some instances where police aggression happens. With all of the issues that arise between certain minority populated community’s police it is evident that conflict

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has severely affected the lives of countless military veterans throughout the years. Consequently, there likely are many more PTSD cases that exist and go unreported, or misdiagnosed due to misconceptions when reported (Samuelson, Bartel, Jordan, & Valadez, 2017). To this extent, I am going to discuss my views on two articles. The first article explains the patient’s perceptions of PTSD symptoms. The second article explains the effects of performing Yoga as an unconventional form of treatment for PTSD patients. Each study was conducted on the men and women veterans of our Armed Forces. As citizens of the United States of America, we owe the Armed Forces a debt of

A young man’s brutal death at the hands of the police is found justified in a court of law due to his “suspicious” appearance: a black hoodie and his hands in his pocket. An elderly woman is fatally shot in her home for her relation to a suspected criminal. A married man with two toddlers is choked to death after a minor traffic stop by an officer who later claimed that his unarmed victim was wielding a gun. These people all have a few commonalities: the color of their skin, their presumed guilt at first sight, and their ultimate unjustified death administered by the law force. These are not uncommon occurrences. Due to the staggeringly disproportionate rate of African-Americans killed by the police, and the underlying rampant racial profiling, police brutality towards blacks in America must be called to light.

Imagine being an African American and you see the police in your rearview mirror, is your first reaction fear and anxiety? Imagine being a Caucasian and you see an African American hooded male walking quietly behind you. Is your first reaction fear and anxiety? In both of these cases, the person who is targeted is African American. An understanding of where these feelings stem from could change the feelings in the future. Due to the stigma that black men are all thieves, robbers , and criminals, they are more likely to be targeted by the police. If that stigma was magically erased and people stopped viewing Blacks as criminals, the world would be much more peaceful. This can be done merely through education,telling the truth about blacks and less assumptions. This idea derives from Brent Staples’ “Black Men and Public Space” (Revelations 167) and Meta Carstarphen’s “Black Versus Blue: Time for a Cease-Fire?” (Revelations 185).

A prime example of this is the picture of Elizabeth Eckford being singled out by the mob outside of Central High on the first day of school; which was one of the first examples of a photo going viral. This photo revealed the lack of empathy from the segregationists for anyone of a different race, while also representing how lonely these african-american people felt when trying to deal with all of the seemingly heartless segregationists (page 6 LRG). Another one of Will Counts’ photo’s helped to illuminate the events of that day, that of the reporter being bricked in little rock while on the job. He’s attacked by a group of white men, singled out, and then beaten and hit in the back of the head with the brick. Demonstrates the violence and lengths that the segregationists would go to hurt people that were different from them (page 32 LRG).

The government sends the military off to fight wars. The cost of these wars are growing due to the medical treatment cost of taking care of the people that were sent off to fight for our country. Five percent of soldiers are diagnosed with PTSD, but since the Iraq and Afghanistan war that number has increased to eight percent. The number of people with PTSD went from 190,000 to about a half million.

Before taking this course in Criminal Justice Ethics, I thought police officers were using too much excessive deadly force when handling situations. I believed that all the officer-related shootings were unnecessary and it seemed to be happening more often and more than we would like. My first thoughts were that police officers were shooting, because the person had a weapon and they were concerned for their safety or because of their race. But that wasn’t always the case. Although, some of the officer-related shooting were justified and some were not. It was, however, revealed in one of our lessons that there were many officers who experienced a condition called Perceptual Distortion. It’s a disorder that occurs when a person’s response varies from how it is seen by that person. The studies showed that officers involved in officer-related shootings, were not fully aware of what

First, based on my findings there are scholars that examined police brutality against blacks which has increased quite a bit over the years (mappingpoliceviolence.org). In other words, there is a chance we may run into one of these problems now that these incidents are occurring more frequently. I believe we should all become educated on what is going on around us. Another reason for this study is the fact that according to Turner and Richardson (2016) police brutality appears more frequent minority groups. This may have a psychological effect, including racial trauma, on a person of this race. The last reason for why this study is important is because I would like to display how the public views police officers’ actions towards African Americans. Dost (2104 ) mentioned that there are significant differences in the confidence that African Americans and whites have in their local police

This photo is important especially within the context of the Black Lives Matter and Take a Knee movements that are occurring.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health disorder that can occur after a traumatic event, such as a threat to life, serious injury, or sexual violence. Some people who experience these types of events may develop PTSD. Sometimes, PTSD can occur in people who hear about trauma that occurs to a close family member or friend. PTSD can happen to anyone at any age.

Much of this influence comes from the New York Times, and from the photographer who took the picture. The photographer presented the image one way, as a picture of racism and the Civil Rights movement and police brutality, as he/she either did not check all necessary facts or elected to ignore them. This becomes a problem because people, as a whole, are not good at changing their minds.