Abstract
Why do some people hold more antipathy towards police officers than others? This study investigates how U.S. citizens’ perceptions of police officers differ by skin tone. My research question, “Is one’s skin tone related to their perceptions of police authority?” is explored through past literature on the history of the criminal justice system’s treatment of people of color. By building a theoretical framework using Joe Feagin’s theory of systemic racism, Eduardo Bonilla-Silva’s Latin Americanization thesis, and Erving Goffman’s stigma theory, I argue that African Americans with darker skin tones hold more negative perceptions of police officers than those with lighter skin tones. The results did not clearly indicate that darker skin tones are directly correlated to greater antipathy towards police officers. However, this study did find that African American respondents with the lightest skin color are the most satisfied with police protection, while African American respondents with the darkest skin color are the most dissatisfied with police protection.
Advisor
Biagas, David
Department
Sociology and Anthropology
Recommended Citation
Honn, Heather Ann, "The Effects of Skin Tone on Perceptions of Police Officers Among African Americans" (2016). Senior Independent Study Theses. Paper 7101.
https://openworks.wooster.edu/independentstudy/7101
Publication Date
2016
Degree Granted
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type
Senior Independent Study Thesis
© Copyright 2016 Heather Ann Honn