Episode 47: The Psychological Effects of Police Violence, Racism & Inequality in America

This week’s episode features Tim’s plenary presentation at the 2018 American Psychological Association’s National Conference in San Francisco, this August. In this speech, Wise addresses the way that inequities in the justice system — especially police violence, racial profiling and disproportionate incarceration—impact the psychological health of peoples of color in America, and what those impacts mean for professionals seeking to offer trauma-informed care.

He also examines the way that racial disparities in the justice system and elsewhere affect the psychological well-being of whites. From internalized notions of superiority to a mentality of entitlement and unrealistic expectations, racial inequity can generate unhealthy states of mind even for those who typically benefit from a system of inequity. When entitlement and expectations are then frustrated (as with a global economy or as a result of changing demographics) whites then either lash out at others in ways that fail to make their own lives better, or internalize shame for their failures, contributing to things like the current opioid epidemic.

Bottom line: solidarity across racial lines and a society of greater equity are necessary to a psychologically healthy nation.