Bridging the Divide: The Examination of Two Presidential Era's Police Striking Approval

Social factors influence people's perceptions toward police brutality (also known as police striking approval), leading researchers to examine society's perspectives on police action. This study examines the impact of political affiliation and political ideology upon the approval of police striking citizens between the Obama and Trump administration eras. Data on 3103 U.S. adults from the 2016-2018 General Social Survey (GSS) was utilized. Binary logistic regression was used to investigate the above-mentioned relationship and determine differences between U.S. presidencies. The main findings of this study are that party affiliation, political ideology, and presidential eras influence the approval of police striking citizens. Other significant findings in this study were that women were less likely to approve of police striking citizens than males, Whites were more likely to approve of police striking citizens, and Protestants were more likely to approve of police striking citizens. The study found that the approval of police striking citizens does vary between presidential eras as social factors can influence society to approve police brutalities. The significance of this research is to expand the limited literature on two presidential eras and their influences on reducing the rates of police brutalities since it has become an epidemic in the U.S. The U.S. is notorious for systematic racism that discriminates, alienates, and marginalizes anyone who is not part of the White heteronormative and patriarchal structure. Thus, the goal is to expand the literature and field to view how presidential eras may influence such police brutalities and allow society to become desensitized and normalize the abuse.