Running Head: POLICE BEHAVIOR, URBAN MINORITIES & PUBLIC HEALTH
Police Behavior, Urban Minorities, and Public Health
A Review of Literature Prepared for the Graduate Seminar
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the
Degree of Master of Health Administration
This study examined the problem of violent behavior as a public health issue. The methodological approach to the examination was an extensive review of the relevant literature.
Within the context of assessing the effects the policies of specific public entities on the problem of violence, this study examined the role of the police who address the issue of violence from a criminal justice perspective. The hypothesis investigated through the conduct of this study was that a public health approach that emphasizes prevention over punishment can be applied with effect to the reduction of violence in American society. The findings of the literature review supported this hypothesis.
The study concluded that the focus of the police should not be a "war on crime" but, rather, on how to achieve desirable human relations outcomes through the process of peacemaking. There are few people on the planet that would not prefer a world in which the attainment of desirable human relations outcomes rendered unnecessary the activity of making war on crime.
Controlling, restraining, and punishing, however, do not imply that cultural differences should be ignored, nor do they imply that certain population groups should be profiled are targeted, not because of illegal or anti-social behaviors, but because of demographic characteristics. What is required is mutual respect among all members of a society. Mutual respect, however, cannot exist in the absence of self-respect, and self-respect is severely damaged by behaviors (by the police or by any other group) that (a) is more willing to settle issue by force than through peacemaking and (b) finds it more convenient to...