In Chapters 14 and 15 of The Lucifer Effect, Philip Zimbardo’s book on the psychology of evil, readers are confronted with case studies on the atrocities at Abu Ghraib. Zimbardo describes when an individual may be responsible for their behavior or when their environment may be to blame. This same question has been raised about police brutality in the United States, with both sides of the debate citing different evidence for their arguments. To understand this issue, it is important to examine what Zimbardo writes about Abu Ghraib. Zimbardo’s contrasting perspective that police brutality results from systemic issues in police culture, such as excessive training and the lack of oversight. Zimbardo’s examination of Ghraib reveals how factors like a breakdown in the command structure and building an environment based on fear can contribute to the abuse of power. Considering police brutality, it is important to analyze the powers and privileges often granted to police officers, which can lead to a culture of impunity. While some people may argue that police brutality is contributed by issues of the police culture, examining individual responsibility will change the system to become more responsible.
Leaders often seek an easy way out when dealing with police brutality and use excuses such as isolated incidents or emotional release. This was evident in the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse case, where leaders attempted to justify their subordinates’ unacceptable actions. Philip Zimbardo notes in his book The Lucifer Effect the soldiers of the Abu Ghraib prison were able to be excused for their torture by claiming “torture as emotional release? Catharsis for the stressed soldiers? Having a good time by just blowing off a little steam? Those were the justifications by this influential celebrity for terrible acts of torture”(327). This shows how leaders attempt to trivialize police brutality as a way out instead of initiating comprehensive reform. As a result, organizations are only bound by the legal framework in which they operate. For example, in the United States, police departments have specific policies and regulations that must be adhered to and federal laws. If these laws or policies are violated, officers will face the consequences for their actions; however, this does not prevent the underlying problem from occurring.
Finally, systemic racial bias in law enforcement also contributes to police brutality. This is reflected in Police Brutality and Blacks: An American Immune System Disorder article, where Brooks states that “threat perception failure,’ where an officer may believe that the person was armed and it turned out not to be the case. These failures were observed to occur more frequently when the suspect was Black”( 239). This shows how law enforcement officers are more likely to make assumptions about an individual’s danger based on their skin color, leading to an increased chance of police brutality. Although there are responsible police officers, their ethical work is nulled amidst the policemen who abuse their authority.
The existence of systemic racial bias in law enforcement leads to unequal treatment and a higher likelihood of police brutality when dealing with people of color. This is reflected in the Brooks study, which demonstrates that officers are more likely to perceive a threat posed by black individuals than those of other races, thus leading to an increased chance of police brutality. Additionally, when police departments fail to reform their policies and procedures or punish officers who commit violent acts toward citizens, they create an environment where racial bias and brutality have no real consequence. This allows a pattern of unfair treatment to continue, leading to further cases of police brutality. Ultimately, for justice to be served, systemic reforms need to be implemented so that law enforcement treats people of all backgrounds equally. By ensuring organizations understand the repercussions of such incidences, they can learn to be more accountable and ensure a safer environment for all members of the community. Thus, police brutality can be reduced when leaders take responsibility and create fair and just policies. When this happens, citizens will have greater confidence in law enforcement and trust in their judgment to execute justice properly.
All organizations are bound by their legal frameworks, not ethical ones. This means there is no incentive for them to be ethical, and they can inflict suffering or death on people by following cold rationality to achieve the goals of their ideologies. As demonstrated in Zimbardo’s research, this often results in organizations allowing unethical and immoral behavior to go unchecked. For example, Zimbardo cites the case of Abu Ghraib, where a culture of impunity was created within the prison system due to a lack of oversight from higher-ranking officers who were willing to turn a blind eye to their subordinates’ actions.
Despite the fact that legal frameworks can be used to protect citizens from mistreatment, organizations still need to focus on ethical practices in order to ensure justice is served. Zimbardo states, “Both public and private organizations, because they operate within a legal framework, not an ethical framework, can inflict suffering, even death, on people by following cold rationality for achieving the goals of their ideology” (381). This means that organizations are more likely to prioritize following the letter of the law rather than doing what is ethically right. This often leads to unethical behavior being unchecked, enabling police brutality and other forms of systemic discrimination within a law enforcement agency. By not having an ethical framework in place, organizations cannot address ethical issues that may arise, leading to further normalization of police brutality.
This can be seen in police departments where the legal framework is often used as a shield to cover up the unethical behavior of officers and an incentive to act unethically. Brooks explained that “without effective oversight or accountability, this encourages systemic racial bias in law enforcement, contributing to police brutality, bad apple paradigm is considered by some to be an easy way out … blame corruption on individuals and individual faults … rather than addressing systemic factors” (240). This means that relying on a legal framework alone is not enough to address police brutality, and instead, organizations must also implement ethical frameworks to ensure accountability. With this in place, it becomes clear that police brutality is not simply an issue of a few bad apples but rather a systemic problem rooted in racial bias and lack of accountability.
Police brutality is not the result of a few bad apples but is the product of systemic racial bias in law enforcement. The research Bad Apples? Attributions for Police Treatment of African Americans, concluded “attributes police treatment of African Americans to their political identity” (Haider-Markel and Joslyn 358). This demonstrates that the racial and political identity of police officers predisposes them to believe certain perspectives over others when it comes to policing people of color, which could lead to excessive force. This prompts the concept of individual responsibility, holding that any abuses by police officers are the result of a few bad irresponsible police acting without regard for their duties or orders. This shows that the system should include more responsibility and accountability in the institutions’s regulations to ascertain that the police are more responsible with how they exercise their authority.
This systemic bias allows for a legal framework that permits violence towards African Americans by law enforcement. The legal framework is perpetuated by the fact that many police departments are only limited in responding to cases of excessive force due to restrictive laws and policies imposed on them. Systematic bias allows police officers to act with impunity, as they know they will not face any real consequences. This can also lead to an easy way out mentality, where police officers rely on stereotypes and racial profiling to quickly identify and target African Americans, often leading to violence. Moreover, police departments often fail to hold officers accountable for their actions. Lack of accountability sends a message that the department is not serious about eliminating police brutality, leading to a rotten barrel culture that encourages and tolerates this type of behavior. This creates an environment where individuals may be more likely to become irresponsible and engage in brutality.
Police Brutality is a result of systematic racism within the law enforcement community. To build on this argument, Haider-Markel and Joslyn state that “racial and political identities strongly shape attributions, and these patterns have implications for public trust in government institutions and the ability of police to operate effectively” (Haider-Markel and Joslyn 358). This research shows the implications of systemic racial bias among police officers and its effects on public trust and their ability to operate effectively. It further highlights how this systemic racism is responsible for police brutality, not just a few people in the department as it permeates through all levels of law enforcement. In order to begin to address this issue, policymakers and citizens must recognize the systemic nature of racism in law enforcement and work collaboratively to create real change.
Police brutality is an indication of systemic issues in law enforcement. While it is true that there may be some isolated incidents that can be attributed to individual misconduct, these incidents are indicative of the larger problem of systemic racism. It is also a legal framework that fails to hold all organizations accountable for their unethical behavior. This argument is further supported by the fact that a legal framework only binds organizations, and systemic racial bias in law enforcement has been shown to lead to police brutality. Organizations must reflect on their structure, reform their legal framework, and address systemic racism to reduce police brutality. Therefore, solving this issue requires addressing the root causes of police brutality and not just punishing those guilty of misconduct without any larger changes in the system. To truly address these issues, it is essential to consider the individual actors and the environment in which they operate. Essentially, true justice will remain unattainable unless these underlying issues are addressed and corrected.
Works Cited
Brooks, Oliver. “Police Brutality and Blacks: An American Immune System Disorder.” Journal of the National Medical Association, vol. 112, no. 3, 2020, pp. 239–241.
Haider-Markel, Donald P., and Mark R. Joslyn. “Bad Apples? Attributions for Police Treatment of African Americans.” Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, vol. 17, no. 1, 2017, pp. 358-378.
Zimbardo, Philip. The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil. Random House, 2007.