Bor et al. (2018) stated that African Americans are almost three times more likely to be murdered by police officers than White Americans. As African American males’ have been exposed to police brutality, anxiety and distress associated with police encounters have increased(Graham et al., 2020). The objective of this article is to explore the effect of potential exposure to police brutality on educated, middle-class African American males to understand their current state of mental health through their personal perceptions. By using a qualitative design, this phenomenological study consisted of focus groups of five educated, middle-class African American males that were presented with questions to gain insight related to exposure with police encounters. The results were that middle class and educated African American males’ perceive police presence as negative, and that police presence has a negative impact on their mental health.

 

Keywords African American males, middle-class, educated, police brutality, mental health

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INTRODUCTION

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“The policemen, or soldiers, are only a gun in the establishment’s hand. They make the racist secure in his racism.” -Huey P. Newton

 

 

 

 

 

Singletary (2022) discovered that the adversarial relationship between authoritative power and African American males possibly dates to slavery, continued through the reconstruction era, led to the civil rights movement, and still occurs. Due to frequent encounters of police brutality from law enforcement, a small number of African American males (despite their accomplishments, position in society, or social class) were not immune to police exposure, and their mental health challenges became more prevalent. (Allen, 2013; Bruce & Hawkins,2018; DeAngelis, 2023; Franklin & Boyd-Franklin, 2000; Henfield, 2011; Hotchkins, 2016;
Solórzano et al., 2000; W. A. Smith et al., 2007, 2011). Every year, more than 300 cases of unarmed African American males are being killed or abused by police officers occur (Bor et al.,2018). As awareness of law enforcement-related social injustices that African American males face has spread, mental health professionals have highlighted the importance of promoting the
need for mental health services within the African American community (Lindsey & Marcell,2012).

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History of Racial Inequality of African Americans including Oppression, Mass Incarcerations, and Police Brutality

 

African Americans have historically been oppressed and suffered from collective forms of social injustice by individuals who believe their cultural group is positioned in a higher social structure (Dahl, 2021). African American males’ oppression has shifted from enslavement to incarceration, institutionalizing them against their will and placing in a position of servitude (Weatherspoon, 2007). Though the 13th amendment abolished slavery and oppressive systems, Goodwin (2019) pointed out that mass incarcerations can constitute another form of slavery when inmates are required to perform hard labor for little to no pay for the state while exposed to
inhumane conditions and treatment. In 2023, Moslimani et al. (2023) found that although African Americans account for only 14.2% of the U.S. population, they are incarcerated at approximately 5 times the rate of White Americans, with a state average of 1,240 per 100,000 inmates (Rezal, 2021).

 

African American males have been portrayed as angry, evil, ignorant, and criminal by White U.S. citizens (Rembert et al., 2015). Smith- Lee and Robinson (2019) evaluated the narratives of African American males when exposed to police brutality and found there was an increase in traumatic symptomology when encountering a police officer causing the participants to feel as if the police had them on their radar simply for being African American. Palosky (2020) found that 71% of African Americans have experienced racial discrimination from police officers and 48% felt as if their life was in danger at that moment.

 

 

 

Racial Profiling, Stereotyping, Misidentification, Inequality

 

Stereotypes, microaggressions, and racial profiling are common themes that African American males face when exposed to police brutality and violence while being mislabeled as aggressive and violent (Skinner & Haas, 2016). Due the stereotypes of African American males having combative behavior, the mere presence of an African American male creates misconceived concepts that enables others to think that all ambiguous behavior is aggressive behavior (Eberhardt et al., 2004). More than half of African American males (59%) have been pulled over and racially profiled by a police officer while also experiencing people who made
false allegations about them and being highly subjected to racial slurs and jokes (Anderson,2019).

Most African American males face misidentification due to the assumption of mistaken identity related to being labeled as being violent, dangerous, or a criminal (Oliver, 2003). Since there has been microaggressions and stereotypes surrounding African American males, misidentification has contributed to how police officers interact with them (Cockley, 2021). Further, African American males make up 49% of the wrongly accused and misidentified convictions and are seven times more likely than White males to be falsely identified for a murder case (Carrega, 2020). Mental Health Challenges related to Police Exposure Smith-Lee and Robinson (2019) used a modified grounded theory approach to evaluate the important life events in African American males from the ages 18–24 and assessed anxiety from police exposure. The selected young men were from a low-income community. Based on
the perceptions collected from each participant, Smith-Lee and Robinson concluded that 90% of the participants’ fear and anxiety was due to police violence. Bryant-Davis et al. (2017) studied perspectives of multiple professionals, such as psychologist, sociologists, and other social sciences professionals, on the history of police brutality toward minorities. Bryant-Davis et al.
used each profession’s definition of trauma. Following each definition, Bryant-Davis et al. explained the origin of intergenerational trauma, indicating that much trauma stems from the history that each race has experienced.

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METHOD

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Participants and Research Questions

 

This phenomenological study consisted of two focus groups of five educated, middle-class African American males. The participants had to meet the criteria of identifying as an African American male whose income is between $26,093-$156,560 (Cortland, 2023), aged 27-35 years old, and willing to participate in the study for two 45-to-60-minute focus groups. Creswell (2013) explained that phenomenology is a qualitative research approach that enables the understanding of a phenomenon by examining lived experiences. The following research questions were posed:

 

1. What are the perceptions of educated, middle-class African American males
toward police presence?

2. What is the perceived effect of police presence on the mental and emotional states
of educated and middle-class African American males?

 

 

The phenomenological approach was deemed appropriate because it evaluates what the participant experienced as well as how the experience impacted them. The results can provide deeper insight and focus on the unique experiences that African American males face to limit microaggressions and stereotypes resulting from police encounters.

 

 

Social Constructivism and Focus Groups

In qualitative research, social constructivism helps clarify the insight of an individual’s unique views in similar situations and can gain awareness of how knowledge is gained by their individual life experiences (Boyland, 2019). Though the participants in this study all identified as middle class and educated African American males, they still have a unique perception of the world depending on their childhood experiences, family structure, birth order, place of residence, etc. Social constructivism theory gave each participant the chance to share their experiences through their own personal lens and share the feelings that were associated with the events that have taken place. Focus groups are an informal and extensive approach that allows observations through interviews while exploring the subjective lived experiences of selected individuals that are focusing on a specific topic of discussion (Gundumogula & Gundumogula, 2020). By developing a deeper understanding the perceptions of educated and middle class African American males
related to police brutality, focus groups enhanced the ability to understand emotions, concerns, and ideas associated with the presenting topic.

 

 

Focus Group #1

In the first focus group, the following questions were presented to gain insights into their lived experiences. The group was allotted 20-minutes to answer each question.

1. Have you as an educated middle-class African American male ever had direct or indirect police exposure (direct: direct contact; indirect: relatives encounters, social media exposure, or news headlines)? Please elaborate on your encounter or
viewpoint.

2. Have previous exposures to police officers affected your mental health in a positive or negative way because you are an educated middle-class African American male? Please explain.

3. As an educated middle-class African American male, what are some ways that law enforcement can approach you and make you feel secure?

 

Following the first focus group, the data was transcribed and analyzed, and thematic analysis was used to identify cluster codes and themes through the Zoom and NVivo qualitative platforms.

 

 

Focus Group #2

In Focus Group #2, the themes that were identified in the first focus group session were presented. The results were discussed with the group and a summary of tables was provided for visual representation of the findings. This focus group was conducted to build trustworthiness with the focus group by using member checking. Once this focus group was concluded, the participants were reminded of counseling services that were available, if needed, by TAMU-Commerce counseling services.

 

 

Cluster Coding and Thematic Analysis

Braun and Clarke (2022) defined thematic analysis as a method for developing, analyzing, and interpreting patterns across qualitative data, which involves systematic processes of data coding to develop themes. Cluster codes are building blocks that form a thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2022). For each theme, a set of codes were presented to provide specification on the appropriate research question.

 

 

Procedure

The perceptions of educated middle-class African American males relative to exposure to police brutality was investigated. Permissions were confirmed following the institutional review board’s ethical guidelines for conducting research. A qualitative design, phenomenological paradigm, and social constructivism theory was used to collect data on the lived experiences of the participants through focus groups (Hays & Singh, 2012). The focus groups met for 45–60 minutes, twice within a 2-week period (all participants were present at both meetings). Participants agreed the sessions could be video- and audio-recorded via signed informed consent. Zoom was used to record audio and video and to transcribe the audio recording. Following the transcription process, manual coding and NVivo was used to identify themes by thematically analyzing respondents’ comments and discussion. Manual coding is a technique that is used when developing codes and assigning themes to analyze data by hand. (Bodine, 2021). Manual coding was demonstrated by printing the transcripts from focus group #1, and highlighting codes and themes that were associated with the data. NVivo is a qualitative data management software that helps organize, store, and analyze data found in qualitative and quantitative research studies (Lumivero, n.d.). NVivo was used to store and organize the codes and themes that were
identified through manual coding to create a clearer visual representation to easily assess concise data. Subsequently, common themes were analyzed among the participants’ responses by using thematic analysis and cluster coding the NVivo data.

 

Two focus groups were used consisting of five educated, middle-class African American males. First, each participant was interviewed to discuss the purpose of the study and to obtain their informed consent. Second, the participants were involved in two successive focus groups for a total of 2 hours over the course of 2 weeks. The first focus group discussed three primary questions and used follow-up probing questions depending on the appropriateness of the situation. Zoom was used to conduct the focus groups and record sessions, and subsequently transcribed the interviews. Following the first focus group, thematic analysis and cluster coding
was used to analyze results. Once data was analyzed from the first focus group, the participants participated in the second focus group for further discussion and confirmation of the accuracy of the transcripts.

 

Video and audio recording were used in the focus groups. Open-ended, semi-structured interview questions guided the first focus group. Transcriptions with short descriptors of the material were coded following the first focus group. Identification of themes were used through thematic analysis of respondents’ transcripts using NVivo, a qualitative data management software. Counseling services were available to participants after the study, if needed, because of the potential for the topic to expose traumatic recollections.

 

 

Member Checking and Trustworthiness

Member checking allows participant credibility and build trustworthiness (Birt et al., 2016). Each participant was given an opportunity to share their thoughts related to the identified themes and their experiences while participating in the study. After the first focus group, the research findings were analyzed 2 weeks before conducting the second focus group to ensure trustworthiness. The second focus group provided information to the participants containing the identified themes while using the qualitative method of member checking to explore the accuracy of the research findings from the viewpoint of the participants. Trustworthiness is a
term used in qualitative studies to ensure that a study is credible, transferable, dependable, and confirmable (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). Trustworthiness was employed by assessing credibility through member checking and reflective journaling.

 

RESULTS

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Data Analysis

 

The purpose of this study was to explore and investigate, from a phenomenological perspective, the perceptions and mental health challenges experienced by educated middle-class African American males when they are exposed to potential police brutality. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the collected data and identify common themes associated with the phenomenon derived from the focus group questions. Data were collected during two focus groups that lasted for approximately 2 hours combined. In the first focus group, three specific focus group questions were posed. Responses were used to identify themes, based on clustered codes. After the first focus group, 2 weeks were used to analyze the research findings before conducting the second focus group to review findings with the participants for member checking purposes.

During the second focus group, participants were informed of the identified themes and member checking was used to confirm their point of view was accurately represented and to obtain agreement with the initial research findings, based on the thematic analysis. Five themes were discovered across all focus group questions: (a) racial profiling, (b) compromised safety, (c) recollection of trauma, (d) racial disparity/distress, and (e) recreate precincts. Focus group question #1 identified two themes: (a) racial profiling and (b) compromised safety; focus group #2 identified two themes: (c) recollection of trauma and (d) racial disparity/distress and focus
group question #3 identified one theme: (e) recreate precincts. The research findings also included codes that will be provided under each theme subheading.

 

 

Focus Group #1

Themes Associated with Focus Group Q1

Q1: Have you ever had direct or indirect police exposure as a middle class and educated African American male (direct: direct contact; indirect: relatives encounters, social media exposure, news headlines). Please elaborate on your encounter or viewpoint.

 

With the first focus group question, regarding the viewpoint or encounter related to direct or indirect police exposure, the two themes were present: (a) racial profiling and (b) compromised safety. For the first theme (a) racial profiling, five out of five participants identified as having experienced racial profiling related to direct and/or indirect encounters with police officers, endorsing the theme as 100% accurate. For theme (b) compromised safety, four out of five participants disclosed that they had experienced compromised safety due to direct and/or indirect encounters with police officers, also endorsing the second theme as 80% accurate.

 

 

Theme 1: Racial Profiling

The first theme, (a) racial profiling, described what each participant experienced when exposed to direct or indirect police brutality from the perspective of being an educated middle- class African American male. This theme included the following cluster codes: stereotypes, misidentification, and unequal treatment. The participants shared emotional testimonials related to their indirect/direct experiences associated with police encounters in which still plays an impact on who they are today.

 

For example, Participant 2 disclosed a situation in which he was directly racially profiled by two officers, one Hispanic and one Caucasian, who accused him of being involved with drug paraphernalia while sitting at the park eating candy and drinking a non-alcoholic beverage. He stated:

 

So when I was at that park…So when I was at that park, 2 policemen came while I was
just sitting on a bench talking on the phone and drinking, and eating on some candy and it
was a Hispanic cop. He was giving me the most issues, and it was a White cop. I think he
(the White cop) was a trainee or something.

 

The Hispanic issue. The Hispanic cop was
like, ‘where the drugs at?’ I was like ‘what are you talking about? I don’t sell drugs or
drugs.‘ ‘We didn’t ask you that, we asked you where are the drugs at?’ So coming out
like that, I was like so you just want to clarify that I got...that I’m selling drugs just off of
that question right there?

Participant 5 spoke of a situation in which he experienced indirect racial profiling
regarding his younger brother which led to his brother having guns drawn on him and
misidentified:

 

 

 

Even my little brother…I’m raising my little brother and being his guardian. A whole
incident occurred. He was just coming back from his therapist and had dropped him off at

my place and that ended up with….he had over 40 police officers, 4 snipers, and some
other things called on him simply for being Black and just walking to my house.
Someone thought he had a gun and was doing some other stuff and turned into a
mis…what they’re saying a misidentification.

 

 

The theme of (a) racial profiling highlighted the initial thoughts that each participant had experienced related to being getting stopped by a police officer, conversing about treatment with others, or situations that has happened to loved ones. Further, the primary response of each participant was that they were felt as if they were racially accused of wrongdoing before theywere provided with an opportunity to plead their innocence.

 

 

Theme 2: Compromised Safety

The second theme, (a) compromised safety, described the response that each participant had to maintain to prevent potential issues to arise between police officers and themselves when exposed to police directly or indirectly. This theme included the following cluster codes: complying with law, and premeditated judgement from officer.

In regard to complying with the law, Participant 4 spoke about how his father taught him at a young age to comply with law due to the history of African American males’ experiences of encountering police officers to prevent losing his life. He disclosed:

My father always is telling me, “say yes sir or no sir”, you know that BS, and I mean I
am humble enough to do that, especially when I know that my whole career or my whole
everything that I work for is on the line. I still slightly comply with the law, and that’s,
you know, hands on the wheel, yes sir no sir. So you know the norm. Some people call it
racism and everything as well, but it’s just. I’m trying to keep my life at the end of the
day.

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Participant 2 followed up on the encounter that was mentioned earlier when speaking on his experience with being profiled by police while he was sitting at the park. He followed up with sharing ways that he complied with the law by being respectful toward the officer (saying yes sir or no sir) and doing what was asked related to his license and registration:

 

So the officer frisked me, and he told him (the other officer) that he didn’t find nothing,
and then he just kept going and picking on talking about, ‘you’ve been to jail before?’ I
was like ‘no sir, never have. I never had a case in my life.’ and then he was like, ‘we are going to run your license and
everything’ and he told the White cop, ‘hey, if he runs, you know what to do.’ I was like
‘okay’ (complying by giving license).

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The theme of (b) compromised safety highlighted the behaviors associated with being compliant and respectful when encountering a police officer to keep harm from arising. It was found that complying with the law was something that was taught to the participants in young age from their older loved ones due to the history of the dynamic of African American males relationship history with law enforcement.

 

 

Themes Associated with Focus Group Q2

 

Q2: Have previous exposure to police impacted your mental health in a positive or negative way as a middle-class and educated African American male? Please explain.

With the second focus group question, related to the positive or negative impact of police officer encounters on their mental health, the two themes were present (c) trauma recollections and (d) distress from racial disparity. For the first theme (c) trauma recollections, five out of five participants identified as experiencing some form of trauma recollection as a negative contributing factor to their mental health endorsing the theme as 100% accurate. For the theme (d) racial disparity/distress, three out of five participants disclosed that they had disclosed feeling distressed regarding racial disparity making the theme 60% accurate.

 

 

Theme 3: Trauma Recollections

The (c) trauma recollection’s theme explored how previous exposure to police brutality contributed to the flashbacks of each participant that heightened the sense of traumatic memories when encountering a police officer. The following cluster codes were associated with trauma recollections: invasive thoughts, flashbacks, and stress.

Participant 1 talked about how he experiences flashbacks to moments where he has
gotten pulled over by an officer in the past that contributed to having trauma from the situation
by stating:

Just a few days ago I was driving, and I got pulled over for going 36 in a 35. I got pulled
over… I think every time that I’ve been pulled over, they take me out of the car. They
want to search the car… it still doesn’t make a difference, I still end up in handcuffs
being detained or sitting on the curve, you know those type of things and it reminds me of
whenever it happened to me previously growing up...but whenever I’m out and about
doing things, I’m always conscious and my attitude to police is not gonna be good. It
would never be good because of the fact of how I...because of how the things that I have
dealt with the police and so maybe it may be a PTSD type of thing.

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Participant 3 talked about experiencing trauma and having to adjust his whole demeaner
when exposed to a police officer by stating:

You just got to tread lightly and it does give you PTSD, like somebody described earlier and it messes up your mental when I have to adjust my whole mindset, my body language, my attitude just because I see those blue lights or her and see somebody coming.

Participant 4 shed light on the increased invasive thoughts and fear induced distress related to trauma recollections by stating:

Everybody says keep living, but if you get in a scenario where you keep living, and you
run into a scenario where you didn’t even think of anything that could be escalated or in a
negative light it happens. So I think that’s one thing that I had to fear even though staying
in the house is good and saving money and all that… how I feel about police officers…I
guess I try not to put myself in a situation, but you just never know.

 

 

The theme of (c) trauma recollections emphasized the mental health challenges that African American males face when exposed to police brutality in which has a negative impact on them.

 

 

Theme 4: Racial Disparity/Distress

The (d) racial disparity/ distress theme, highlights the racial distress that African American males experience when working with and discussing situations related to exposure to police and a difference in treatment compared to their Caucasian American counterparts. This theme included the following cluster codes: privilege, incongruence of treatment, and self- advocacy.

Participant 1 shared his viewpoint of the distress that he experiences with his Caucasian American counterparts when he thinks about the inequality in treatment that they receive from police officers:

When I ask my White counterparts they tell me, ‘naw things like that don’t happen to them.’ When I talk to my White coworkers or my White peers, those things don’t happen to them… and also they tell me the things that they can say to the police and the way they
talk to the police. It’s different than I could talk to, because what I was taught was, like somebody said earlier, is yes sir, no sir, yes ma’am no ma’am you get for the most part. And I’m not gonna and I can’t speak for everybody, but for the most part, I can guarantee
that you are not going to get a more respectable Black man at that point. For the most part we gone be respectful because we ain’t trying to die. So there’s no reason to why things should escalate to the way they were but we also do have to realize that this situation ain’t gone end good for us. It’s not. It never does end good for us. Why do you think that Ice Cube wrote the song, ‘Fuck the Police?’

 

Participant 5 talked about the difference in treatment with his Caucasian American counterparts in the workplace related to addressing African American male’s incidents with police by the use of self-advocacy:

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Sometimes being the only Black college administrator when shit happens, the first person they’re looking for is, ‘Hey, can you…’ and I remember one time in the meeting I said, ‘What do you want me to do like y’all need to use y’all’s White powers and come
together and figure something out’ and I left the meeting and even protests and stuff. I’m at a lot of the protests, even in the cities or at my university, and they’re like, ‘well, you shouldn’t be there as an administrator’ and I said, ‘at the end of the day, I’m Black.
Before you see me, before you call me anything, I’m Black... and as I keep telling people I’m going to keep making White people feel uncomfortable, because when I walk into these sets...I am going to be who I am...Ask me if I care. I don’t. I’m offended every day by you White people.’

 

Participant 3 disclosed how he deals with racial disparity/distress while being in the military with his Caucasian American counterparts:

I mean this stuff exists everywhere… in the military…we go to work and try to get
together. I know me, with the limited number of Black people I work with, anyway, and
you know, I think that an adjustment disorder has endured along the way about being
profiled by policemen. Even White people at work. They don’t really care....The look for
people to blame stuff on believe it or not and it’s only a couple of Black people where I
work as well. So if something goes wrong, they try to figure out if it’s one of us or some
of the three people that I work with.

 

The theme of (d) racial disparity/distress emphasized the mental health challenge that African American males face when comparing themselves to the rights of their Caucasian American counterparts in which cause distress due to equality differences from law enforcement.

 

 

Theme Associated With Focus Group Q3

Q3: As a middle-class and educated African American male, what are some ways that law enforcement can approach you by making you feel secure?

With the third focus group question, feeling secure regarding ways that law enforcement can approach African American males, only one participant responded while the others denied any ways that police officers can make them feel secure providing only one theme for this question. The theme that was present was (e) recreate precincts with one out of five participants, 20%, feeling as if there were ways for police officers to make them feel secure.

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Theme 5: Recreate Precincts

The (e) recreate precincts them, highlights ways that police can approach African American males to make them feel secure, though the possibility is low due to only 20% of the participants agreeing. This theme included the following cluster codes: retrain police officers and gun control.

Participant 3 disclosed that there is essentially nothing that officers can do unless:

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There’s nothing they can do. Unless they want to retrain everybody and recreate precincts like it’s
supposed to be created. And you know and not pull out a gun and taught the reason and
all that good stuff… there’s not really nothing you can do, because we talk about it all the
time.

 

Additional Findings

Race Versus Authority Issue of Police Officers

Though African American males experience racial profiling, inequality, and compromised safety with police officers, the participants stated that the police encounters were from officers from different racial backgrounds. For example, Participant 2 spoke on his
experience with a Caucasian American and Hispanic American police officer in which he stated:
 

Two policemen came while I was just sitting on a bench talking on the phone …and then
it was a Hispanic cop, he was giving me the most issues, and it was a White cop.
Further, Participant 4 spoke about the mistreatment of African American police officers
on a HBCU college campus in which he stated:

They have African American police officers on campus too, and you know they’re there
to protect and serve…and you’re on a power trip and then on top of that, you are a Black
police officer trying to get his foot in the door by working at a small university, but when
I see that your guys are trying to ruin other student’s lives instead of just really trying to
help them, and you know, give them a humble experience, you’re really trying to ruin
their life before they even get their diploma…it speaks volumes. Especially when it’s a
Black officer trying to ruin another Black kid/student’s career because they wanted to.

 

 

Focus Group #2

During a two weeks span, data was transcribed and analyzed associated with the findings through thematic analysis to identify cluster codes and themes through the Zoom and NVivo qualitative platforms. Following the data analysis, tables were created to summarize the identified codes, themes, and supporting quotations to provide to each participant for the second focus group. Member checking was used as a tool to explore potential the credibility of the findings.

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DISCUSSION

 

 

The answers to the following questions were sought:

1. What are the perceptions of educated middle-class African American males
toward police presence?

2. What is the perceived impact of police presence on the mental and emotional
states of educated middle-class African American males?

3. What are some ways that law enforcement can approach educated middle-class
African American males to make them feel safer when exposed to police officers?

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The data found that middle-class and educated African American males perceive police presence as negative which contributes to them experiencing situations that lead to being racially profiled, at risk for harm, and experiencing unequal treatment. Further, middle-class and educated African American males’ mental health is negatively impacted when exposed to police as they continually face a high possibility to recollect trauma and experience racial disparities, compared to their Caucasian American counterparts that causes a high level of mental distress. Finally, 80% of the participants stated that there is nothing that law enforcement can do to
approach them in a way that makes them feel more secure.

 

 

Implications

A variety of implications can be used to enhance the field of counselor education and supervision. The themes identified in this study included (a) racial profiling, (b) compromised safety, (c) trauma recollection, (d) racial disparity/distress, and (e) recreate precincts. These themes confirm that educated middle-class African American males experience negative mental health challenges associated with police brutality exposure despite their level of education and socioeconomic status. Many of the participants’ encounters resulted in a tendency to comply with the law out of a compulsion to avoid heightened conflict with police officers, becoming more aware of how they present themselves, being respectful toward police officers to avoid potential issues even when they are stereotyped, misidentified, and racially profiled, and to self- advocate when faced with racial microaggressions from their Caucasian American counterparts. In addition, the participants discussed factors that contribute to enhanced distress and trauma related to being pulled over by police officers, being triggered by police attire and police car lights, and trying to make a living for self and families while hoping they will not be killed in an encounter with a police officer.

 

These findings provided a framework for the counseling field related to the lived experiences of educated middle-class African American males on feelings and psychological responses associated with police brutality exposure. In addition, findings show that educated middle-class African American males do not feel secure when they are exposed to police officers unless police officers approach in a nonthreatening manner and prove they have undergone updated, appropriate training for encounters with African American males. Therefore, licensed professional counselors should be aware of the mental health challenges this population face
when they are exposed to potential police brutality and assist them in restoring mental stability. Counselors should also have competent trauma-based therapy to better assist this population and adopt Adlerian-based therapy to gain insight into the cultural aspect of social interactions and the sense of belonging in the African American community including the roles of spirituality and
family as contributing factors to increasing resiliency to trauma induced situations. Counselors should take the findings and present them to police academies to expand awareness of potential psychological assessments that could improve police training protocols. Licensed clinicians could administer tests to ensure mental stability in law enforcement before officers are in an authoritative role. Counselor educators should consider incorporating curriculum in courses that highlight the importance of cultural sensitivity and diversity to better enhance knowledge of ways to approach African American males to feel more secure.

 

 

Limitations

A variety of limitations were involved in this study. First, data were gathered only on individuals ages 27–35 who had obtained a master’s or a doctoral-level degree. This limitation eliminated educated African American males under the age of 27 and over the age of 35, and individuals who have obtained an associate or a bachelor’s degree. In addition, though

participants resided in different states, the research did not include all 50 states; different states may define police brutality exposure differently. Further, the sample included only participants who identified as middle-class African American males. Second, due to the use of technological platforms such as Zoom and NVivo qualitative platform, incidents occurred in which the video recording had a glitch, causing a pause in the transcription process. Third, the sample size was only five participants in which is a small size to generalize and represent all middle-class and educated African American males.

 

 

Future Research

Future research should focus on assessing African American males from all 50 states and expand their sample size to enhance generalizability in research findings. Research should also explore the pressures that educated middle-class African American males face when trying to ensure that they have the means to provide for their family while also ensuring their safety when
they are exposed to police encounters.

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REFERENCES

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Allen, Q. (2013). “They think minority means lesser than” Black middle-class sons and fathers
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https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085912450575

Anderson, M. (2019, May 2). For Black Americans, experiences of racial discrimination vary by
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