A new study, published in The Lancet, examines the spillover effects of police killings of unarmed Black Americans. The study was co-led by Jacob Bor, assistant professor at Boston University School of Public Health, and Atheendar Venkataramani, assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Results of the quasi-experimental study, which analyzed data from over 100,000 Black Americans, suggest a causal link between police killings of unarmed Black Americans and poorer mental health in Black Americans.
“Beyond the immediate consequences for victims and their families, police killings might also affect the mental health of people not directly connected to the killings or to the people involved,” the researchers write. “Racism, like trauma, can be experienced vicariously.”
Black Americans are almost three times as likely to be killed by police as White Americans. That number increases to five times as likely when the person is unarmed. Research has shown that racism and discrimination are associated with poorer physical and mental health outcomes. Additionally, Black men who have negative interactions with police experience more mental health challenges.
[For more on this story by Shannon Peters, go to https://www.madinamerica.com/2...lth-black-americans/]
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