Relationships Between Ethnicity, Attitudes Toward Institutional Authority, and Hope in the African American Community
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National Louis University Digital Commons@NLU Dissertations 6-2020 Relationships between Ethnicity, Attitudes toward Institutional Authority, and Hope in the African American Community Garnadette Stuckey Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss Part of the Community Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Stuckey, Garnadette, "Relationships between Ethnicity, Attitudes toward Institutional Authority, and Hope in the African American Community" (2020). Dissertations. 469. https://digitalcommons.nl.edu/diss/469 This Dissertation - Public Access is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons@NLU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@NLU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 1 Relationships between Ethnicity, Attitudes toward Institutional Authority, and Hope in the African American Community Garnadette Stuckey 6.24.2020 Community Psychology Doctoral Program Dissertation Notification of Completion Doctoral Candidate: Garnadette Farr Title of Dissertation: RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN ETHNICITY, ATTITUDES TOWARD INSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY, AND HOPE IN THE AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY Certification: In accordance with the departmental and University policies, the above named candidate has satisfactorily completed a dissertation as required for attaining the Doctor of Philosophy degree in the Community Psychology Doctoral Program (College of Professional Studies and Advancement) at National Louis University. Brad Olson, Ph.D. Dissertation Co-Chair Tiffeny Jimenez, Ph.D. Dissertation Committee member Raymond Legler, Ph.D. Dissertation Committee member June 1, 2020 Date 2 Acknowledgments First giving all of the glory, praise, and gratitude to God, I am thankful for His Grace in allowing me to complete the Community Psychology Ph.D. Program at National Louis University. He responded to my prayers and empowered me to persevere. For my mother, Shirley J. Ashford who always told me to stay at the head of the class. Even while recovering in the rehabilitation center, mom read to me the highlighted information that I needed to cite for my work while I typed it on my laptop. She has instilled the legacy of our family’s strength and tenacity in me. Thank you. For my sister, Antoinette R. Thomas who has always believed in me, supported me, encouraged me, and loved me unconditionally. For my brother, Shaughn M. Farr who has also provided support, structure, and security in protecting our family especially our mom which allowed me to focus on school. For my daughter, Bernadette E. Farr-Matthews who showed support in the sweetest ways. She recorded a video of herself and my two grandchildren telling me “You got this. You can do it.” I watched it over and over again and it helped tremendously. For my nephew, Kendon A. Smith (TB) who has been the catalyst for this research and one of the biggest contributors. His ideas and support are invaluable. For my son, Charles F. Edwards who is my tech guy as I am technology challenged. He once recovered a research document that I could not locate and had spent a long time trying to find which essentially saved me. He also arranged my workspace to be more efficient. For my husband, Christopher L. Stuckey who has expressed his love and support for the duration of the program. He was also present for my Dissertation Defense supporting me all the way. For my Uncle Willie who was my civil rights partner, my aunt Rochelle, and cousin Barbara through whom, I have found yet even more love and support. For Dr. Brenda Crawley who was my Professor at Loyola University and who marched in the Civil Rights Movement. She told me that I should consider returning to school to earn my doctorate because she believed I had a lot to contribute to academia. For my friends at the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and my dream team who were an essential element that helped me to achieve all that I have. And For my Cohort #12 family’s conversations and camaraderie. For my particpants, who shared some of the most profound, intimate, and honest experiences that provided a very valuable contribution to the literature. For my professors at NLU each of them gave me a gift from which I will always benefit. I appreciate being treated as a human being not just a number on a class roster. I appreciate the connection I have with my forever chair and mentor Dr. Bradley Olson because of which, my educational experience was more than I ever imagined. With acknowledgement and appreciation, I thank you all. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Title Page……………………………………………………………………………………….1 Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………………..2 Abstract ………………………………………………………………………………………...4 Literature Review Study 1…………………………………………………………………..…..3 Methods Study 1……………………………………………………………………….………17 Results Section Study 1………………………………………………………………………..19 Descriptive Statistics ………………………………………………………………….19 Multiple Linear Regression Analyses …………………………………………….…..20 Table 1…………………………………………………………………………..……..21 Table 2 ………………………………………………………………………………..22 Table 3 ………………………………………………………………………….……22 Literature Review Study 2…………………………………………………………………….33 Methods Study 2 …………………………………………………………………..………….38 Results Section Study 2 ……………………………………………………………..………..41 THEMES ………………………………………………………………………..……….…. 42 Hopelessness/Learned Helplessness…………………………………………..…..…42 Distressed Powerlessness …………………………………………………..…….....44 Mass Incarceration …………………………………………………….……....…….46 4 Police Violence …………………………………………….………………….…….47 Solutions …………………………………………………………………………..……….50 Ethnic Identity …………………………………………………………..…………50 Community ……………………………………………………………..…………52 Education: Lack of Education …………………………………………………….53 Educational Experience ………………………………………………………… 54 Empowerment ……………………………………………….………..…….…...56 Racial Identity …………………………………………………………………...57 Self-Efficacy and Trust …………………………………………….……………57 Resilience ……………………………………………………….………..……...60 Hope ……………………………………………………………...………….….61 Discussion ………………………………………………………….………..…………63 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………….…….70 Recommendations ……………………………………………………..………………73 References ………………………………………………………….…………..……...75 Appendix 5 Abstract A set of two mixed method studies were conducted to examine attitudes toward institutional authority and to understand how the presence of societal authority and oppression can impact individual and community capacity for hope and full freedom. Researchers have discussed concepts such as attitudes to authority, suggesting that some individuals are naturally more resistant to authority (Rigby, 1985). However, in the United States, racial disparities are great, particularly when the “authority” is a police officer in an urban community and the individual is African American. In African American communities in the U.S., interactions with authority figures begin in childhood. African Americans have a significantly greater negative attitude toward institutional authority as it relates to the police. In Study 2, African American participants share stories of perceived racial oppression as it pertains to the economic, educational, and social aspects of our society. The themes that arise focused on ones related to a sense of hopelessness in the African American community around police violence and mass incarceration. Keywords: police mistrust, abuse of police authority, racism and police brutality 6 Relationships between Ethnicity, Attitudes toward Institutional Authority, and Hope in the African American Community In our current political climate, acts of blatant racism and violent hate crimes are becoming commonplace. There has been an increase in hate crimes reported to the FBI in 2017. The number of hate crimes in the United States in 2017 topped a previous high, with law enforcement reporting 7,175 incidents – an uptick of 17% over the fire year high reached in 2016 (Barrouquere, 2018). Being exposed to violent images of African American men, women, and children being verbally and physically assaulted is simply a part of the American experience. Unfortunately, it always has been. White supremacy has been embedded in the United States of America from its founding as a matter of law (Battalora, 2013). There were laws that were written specially to oppress African Americans. For instance, the California Crimes and Punishments Act of 1850 provided that no black or mulatto person, or Indian shall be permitted to give evidence in favor of or against any white person” (Rose, 2017). More commonly known laws of oppression were the Black Codes which were created after the Civil War in 1865. During an interview with Democracy Now, Ava DuVernay stated that in the 2014 documentary by entitled 13th she initiated the conversation about the history of racism, oppression, and subjugation of black people in this country as it relates to the criminal justice system in this country (DuVernay, 2016). According to documentary in 2016, there were two million people incarcerated and of that number 40% were African American men. African American men have a 1 in 3 chance of being incarcerated in their lifetime. (DuVernay, 2016). At the core of the 7 problems with the disproportionate amount of African American men being incarcerated, is white supremacy. For many African Americans, this information is a contributing factor in the attitudes towards authority. History of White Supremacy and its relation of social trauma The legal history of white supremacy begins with the colonies of Virginia and Maryland