Racial Profiling Is a Public Health and Health Disparities Issue | SpringerLink Advertisement Search Log in Search SpringerLink Search Perspective Article Published: 06 April 2020 Racial Profiling Is a Public Health and Health Disparities Issue Cato T. Laurencin1,2,3,4,5,6 & Joanne M. Walker1  Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities volume 7, pages393–397(2020)Cite this article 5041 Accesses 6 Citations 24 Altmetric Metrics details Abstract Racial profiling is a public health and health disparities issue through its disparate and adverse health impact on those targeted by this practice, as well as members of their communities. We discuss six ways police profiling and racial discrimination adversely impact Black American health. We identify four direct and two indirect ways. Four direct ways are (1) violent confrontation with police that causes injury or death; (2) police language that escalates a confrontation through micro-aggressions or macro-aggressions; (3) sub-lethal confrontations with police; (4) adverse health consequences of perceived or vicarious threat, i.e., the mere belief in potential harm by police injures health. There are two indirect ways: (5) through knowledge of or personal relationship with someone who directly experienced racial profiling; (6) through public events without a personal knowledge of the unarmed person threatened or killed by police as a result of racial profiling, but where such events cause both individuals and the community at large to perceive a threat. We support recognition of racial profiling as a public health and health disparities issue. We recommend support for community programs that address the clinical health effects of racial profiling. We also recommend widespread engagement of trauma-informed policing (TIP) that acknowledges the clinical effects of racial profiling. This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution. Access options Buy single article Instant access to the full article PDF. US$ 39.95 Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout. Subscribe to journal Immediate online access to all issues from 2019. Subscription will auto renew annually. US$ 79 Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout. Rent this article via DeepDyve. Learn more about Institutional subscriptions References 1.Warren PY, Farrell A. The environmental context of racial profiling. Annals Am Acad Pol Soc Sci. 2009;623:52–63. Article  Google Scholar  2.Bor J, Venkataramani AS, Williams DR, Tsai AC. Police killings and their spillover effects on the mental health of Black Americans: a population-based, quasi-experimental study. Lancet. 2018;392(10144):302–10. 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Author information Affiliations Connecticut Convergence Institute for Translation in Regenerative Engineering, University of Connecticut Health Center, 263 Farmington Avenue L7036, Farmington, CT, 06030, USA Cato T. Laurencin & Joanne M. Walker Raymond and Beverly Sackler Center for Biomedical, Biological, Physical and Engineering Sciences, Farmington, CT, USA Cato T. Laurencin Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT, USA Cato T. Laurencin Department of Materials Science & Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA Cato T. Laurencin Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA Cato T. Laurencin Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA Cato T. Laurencin Authors Cato T. LaurencinView author publications You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar Joanne M. WalkerView author publications You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar Corresponding author Correspondence to Cato T. Laurencin. Ethics declarations Conflict of Interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. Ethical Approval This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors. Informed Consent Not applicable. Additional information Publisher’s Note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Rights and permissions Reprints and Permissions About this article Cite this article Laurencin, C.T., Walker, J.M. Racial Profiling Is a Public Health and Health Disparities Issue. J. Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities 7, 393–397 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-020-00738-2 Download citation Received: 07 January 2020 Revised: 25 February 2020 Accepted: 27 February 2020 Published: 06 April 2020 Issue Date: June 2020 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-020-00738-2 Keywords Racial profiling Health disparities Public health Police Structural racism Mental health Access options Buy single article Instant access to the full article PDF. US$ 39.95 Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout. Subscribe to journal Immediate online access to all issues from 2019. Subscription will auto renew annually. US$ 79 Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout. Rent this article via DeepDyve. 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