We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
A Theoretical Integration of Social Learning Theory with Terror Management Theory: Towards an Explanation of Police Shootings of Unarmed Suspects.
- Authors
Maskaly, Jon; Donner, Christopher
- Abstract
Each year in the United States, an unknown number of individuals are shot by law enforcement officers. Many of the suspects shot by officers are suspects who pose a lethal threat to officers or others, and thus the officers were legally justified in using deadly force. However, some estimates indicate that as many as 40 % of those shot by law enforcement each year are unarmed at the time of the encounter (Roy, ). Here, we present a theoretical model that integrates a traditional criminological theory (social learning theory) and a social psychological theory (terror management theory) in an effort to explain police shootings of unarmed suspects. Independently, neither theory can effectively or consistently explain the phenomena. However, when the two theories are integrated, a strong conceptual base is developed for explaining law enforcement shootings of unarmed suspects.
- Subjects
POLICE shootings; POLICE; SOCIAL learning theory; TERROR management theory; DIFFERENTIAL association theory; POLICE subculture
- Publication
American Journal of Criminal Justice, 2015, Vol 40, Issue 2, p205
- ISSN
1066-2316
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s12103-015-9293-7