Honors College Theses

Publication Date

12-16-2020

Major

Criminal Justice and Criminology (B.S.)

Document Type and Release Option

Thesis (restricted to Georgia Southern)

Faculty Mentor

Laurie Gould

Abstract

Over the past few years, the United States has been facing an ethical issue with the police regarding excessive use of force and police brutality. Recently, the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and many more have caused civil unrest in communities across the nation who seek immediate action against officer misconduct. This study investigates how various external factors such as race and geographical location influence a person's perception of the police. Data were collected from 845 participants via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk) online marketplace and findings reveal that geographic location, more so than race, influence perceptions of the police. The implications of these findings are discussed.

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