The violence of police officers in the USA is usually investigated in the framework of political and cultural studies. However, there is a variety of disciplines that are also concentrated on this topic but rarely taken into consideration. For example, among such fields of research are education and sociology. These sciences provide a more precise and in-depth understanding not only of police brutality but also of its consequences. The reasons for the racial discrimination may come from schools (Dunbar, Leerkes, Coard, Supple & Calkins, 2017; Nieto, 2017). The solution for this situation can be found in raising children with love for their country and traditions and upbringing a self-confident person (Grills et al., 2016; Sensoy & DiAngelo, 2017). The purpose of this paper is to describe diverse approaches to examining the problem in the sphere of educational and sociological studies and to analyze the differences and the similarities of the particular articles.
Police brutality against African Americans is, at the same time, the reason and the consequence of racism. That is why it is necessary to investigate the underlying causes of this issue. For example, some of the researchers in the field of sociological studies point out that the origins of this type of discrimination come from schools (Dunbar et al., 2017). Teachers have cultural stereotypes that they follow all their life (Dunbar et al., 2017). This situation is negative not only because of the fact of racism itself but also because of the wrong way of upbringing a child. From the beginning of his or her life, an African American understands that he or she is different from others and has to be treated in a diverse way (Dunbar et al., 2017). In their future life, these children might become more aggressive and less socialized.
Teachers’ perception of another nationality may lead to antisocial behavior of the pupils in the future and the police violence against them as a result. As a solution to this problem, Nieto (2017), a researcher in the sphere of educational studies, provides the idea of multinational schools where equity has to be one of the essential values. She claims that the communication of children from various countries is beneficial for all of them (Nieto, 2017). The pupils from multinational schools are more humanistic and democratic; they are responsible for their actions and carrying for others. What is more, it is essential to mention that they become more adopted and well-socialized in their future lives. Nieto (2017) maintains that the most crucial impact of this type of education is not having a highly-paid job or dozens of friends but raising a self-confident person without any stereotypes. It is possible to conclude that children of all nationalities finishing multicultural school would be tolerant of every person (Nieto, 2017). That means that police brutality, just as the violence motivated by racism in general, would be reduced.
The educational system and the atmosphere at school influence in a serious way the worldview of a child. On the one hand, the researchers claim that the teachers’ stereotypes hurt and traumatize African American pupils (Dunbar et al., 2017). On the other hand, a multinational school is a unique chance to raise an open-minded person (Nieto, 2017). The examined articles are from diverse scientific fields; nevertheless, they are both focused on the importance of emotional socialization at school.
From a sociological point of view, racial and emotional coping is a crucial skill for an African American child. An important role is also played by the parents who ask their children to be always on guard; it is called “racial socialization” (Dunbar et al., 2017). The article in the field of educational studies provides another thesis that only by making no difference between pupils of diverse nationalities it is possible to raise individuals without any stereotypes (Nieto, 2017). Although the two articles propose an almost opposite hypothesis, it is necessary to point out that in both academic works the main topic is the upbringing of a child. It can be noted that the reason for police brutality is in the wrong way of raising a youngster.
There are several steps proposed by scientists to decrease the level of racial discrimination at schools. Some researchers propose the idea of introducing pupils to the culture of their own country (Grills et al., 2016). Sociologists claim that would be beneficial for African American children who usually do not know the history of their nation. What is more, they maintain that understanding the cultural particularities would reduce to minimum racial discrimination and would help to construct a society with the values of equality and justice (Grills et al., 2016). A person who loves his culture and his nation are more expected to be engaged in civic life. Other scientists from the educational sphere put forward a similar thesis that deep self-knowledge is significant for being tolerant (Sensoy & DiAngelo, 2017). The theories of the academic works contain a general description that can be implemented not only for children but for all citizens.
The analyzed articles provide a similar thesis: overcoming racial discrimination is possible only by changing the system of raising children in a multinational country. Despite the differences in the ways to present the ideas and to prove them, the researchers suggest specific actions of what has to be done to ameliorate the situation and examine the reasons for it. Police brutality is only one of the various consequences of the imperfection of a multinational educational system and mistakes in the upbringing of a child.
References
Dunbar, A. S., Leerkes, E. M., Coard, S. I., Supple, A. J., & Calkins, S. (2017). An integrative conceptual model of parental racial/ethnic and emotion socialization and links to children’s social‐emotional development among African American families. Child Development Perspectives, 11(1), 16–22.
Grills, C., Cooke, D., Douglas, J., Subica, A., Villanueva, S., & Hudson, B. (2016). Culture, racial socialization, and positive African American youth development. Journal of Black Psychology, 42(4), 343–373.
Nieto, S. (2017). Re-imagining multicultural education: New visions, new possibilities. Multicultural Education Review, 9(1), 1–10.
Sensoy, O., & DiAngelo, R. (2017). Is everyone really equal?: An introduction to key concepts in social justice education. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.