Chanel Sherrod

Professor Debra Dagher

UWRT 1102
23 February 2015
Factors Related to the Killings of Felons by Police Officers : A Test of
the Community Violence and Conflict Hypothesis
Sorcesen, Johnathan. "Justice Quarterly." Factors Related to the Killings of Felons by
Police Officers 10.3 (1993): 417-40. Print

Factors Related to the Killings of Felons by Police Officers : A Test of the

Community Violence and Conflict Hypothesis researches two perspectives on the
cause and factors of police brutality, the first hypothesis being community violence
and the second being the conflict hypothesis. These two perspectives are at polar
opposites of the ideological spectrum. The author states that the community
violence hypothesis highlights that policemen only use deadly force when it is
deemed necessary and to protect their lives. Meanwhile, on the other hand, the
conflict hypothesis states that police officers are more likely to use deadly force
based on social biases against certain groups of people like minorities. These
studies found that the socio-economic level of the people being murdered by the
police played a big role, so much so that the author believed that this statistic
should also be involved in any research or explanation of police caused murders. In
the end their research ended up supporting the community violence theory
although economic inequality of the community paired along with minorities were
still the two biggest factors of the people being murdered by police officers.