A growing body of work documents the relationship between criminal justice and health has emerged in recent years, including the association between unfair treatment by the police (UTBP) and violent/racialized policing and health outcomes. However, little is known about the resources that could reduce the harmful consequences to well-being of UTBP. Using data from the Nashville Stress and Health Study, we consider both depressive symptoms and allostatic load (a physiological marker of health) and several dimensions of religiosity as stress buffers. African Americans (but not Whites) who experienced personal police contact reported higher depressive symptoms relative to those who experienced no police contact and those reporting vicarious UTBP. Weekly religious attendance and higher church-based support (but not beliefs in divine control, a causal attribution of God’s influence in daily life) mitigated this relationship. African Americans with personal UTBP had higher allostatic load than those with no UTBP. Neither church attendance nor church-based social support attenuated the relationship between personal UTBP and allostatic load, nor did divine control. We discuss how the results of our study can help clarify the parameters of the effectiveness of religious/spiritual coping for African Americans and their implications for criminal justice reform.
AgnewRobert2006. “General Strain Theory: Current Status and Directions for Further Research.” Pp. 101-23 in Taking Stock: The Status of Criminological Theory, edited by F TCullenJ PWrightK RBlevinsNew York: Transaction Publishers.
2.
AlangSirryDonnaMcAlpineEllenMcCreedyRachelHardeman. 2017. “Police Brutality and Black Health: Setting the Agenda for Public Health Scholars.” American Journal of Public Health107(5):662–65.
3.
AllisonPaul D.1999. What Can Be Done About Multicollinearity. Multiple Regression: A Primer. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.
4.
AneshenselCarol S.2005. “Research in Mental Health: Social Etiology Versus Social Consequences.” Journal of Health and Social Behavior46(3):221–28.
5.
BaćakValerioKathryn MNowotny. 2020. “Race and the Association between Police Stops and Depression among Young Adults: A Research Note.” Race and Justice10(3):363–75.
6.
BiermanAlex. 2006. “Does Religion Buffer the Effects of Discrimination on Mental Health? Differing Effects by Race.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion45(4):551–65.
7.
BoenCourtney E.2020. “Criminal Justice Contacts and Psychophysiological Functioning in Early Adulthood: Health Inequality in the Carceral State.” Journal of Health and Social Behavior61(3):290–306.
8.
BowlegLisaAna Mariadel Río-GonzálezMaryMbabaCheriko ABooneSidney LHolt. 2020. “Negative Police Encounters and Police Avoidance as Pathways to Depressive Symptoms among US Black Men, 2015–2016.” American Journal of Public Health110(S1):S160–S16.
9.
ChattersLinda M.Robert JosephTaylorJames SJacksonKaren DLincoln. 2008. “Religious Coping among African Americans, Caribbean Blacks and Non‐Hispanic Whites.” Journal of Community Psychology36(3):371–86.
10.
CosbyRobert. 2020. “Older African American Adults: Understanding the Role of the Black Church’s Support in the Community.” Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Social Work: Social Thought23(6):1–19.
11.
DennisonChristopher R.Jessica GFinkeldey. 2021. “Self‐Reported Experiences and Consequences of Unfair Treatment by Police.” Criminology59(2):254–90. doi:10.1111/1745-9125.12269.
12.
EllisonChristopher G.Linda KGeorge. 1994. “Religious Involvement, Social Ties, and Social Support in a Southeastern Community.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion33(1):46–61.
13.
EllisonChristopher G.Marc AMusickAndrea KHenderson. 2008. “Balm in Gilead: Racism, Religious Involvement, and Psychological Distress among African‐American Adults.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion47(2):291–309.
14.
EllisonChristopher G.Reed TDeAngelisMetinGüven. 2017. “Does Religious Involvement Mitigate the Effects of Major Discrimination on the Mental Health of African Americans? Findings from the Nashville Stress and Health Study.” Religions8(9):195.
15.
GaliatsatosPanagisKimberlyMonsonMopeninuJesuOluyinkaDanaRoseNegroNatashaHughesDaniellaMaydanSherita HGoldenPaulaTeagueWDaniel Hale. 2020. “Community Calls: Lessons and Insights Gained from a Medical–Religious Community Engagement During the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Journal of Religion and Health59(5):2256–62.
16.
GellerAmandaJeffreyFaganTomTylerBruce GLink. 2014. “Aggressive Policing and the Mental Health of Young Urban Men.” American Journal of Public Health104(12):2321–27.
17.
GlasnerTinaWanderVan der Vaart. 2009. “Applications of Calendar Instruments in Social Surveys: A Review.” Quality and Quantity43(3):333–49.
18.
GoosbyBridget J.Jacob ECheadleColterMitchell. 2018. “Stress-Related Biosocial Mechanisms of Discrimination and African American Health Inequities.” Annual Review of Sociology44:319–40.
19.
HillTerrence D.Christopher GEllisonAmy MBurdetteJohnTaylorKatherine LFriedman. 2016. “Dimensions of Religious Involvement and Leukocyte Telomere Length.” Social Science & Medicine163:168–75.
20.
HillTerrence D.CAndré Christie-MizellPreetiVaghelaKrysia NMossakowskiRobert JJohnson. 2017. “Do Religious Struggles Mediate the Association Between Day-to-Day Discrimination and Depressive Symptoms?.” Religions8(8):134.
21.
IdlerEllen L.Marc AMusickChristopher GEllisonLinda KGeorgeNealKrauseMarcia GOryKenneth IPargamentLynda HPowellLynn GUnderwoodDavid RWilliams. 2003. “Measuring Multiple Dimensions of Religion and Spirituality for Health Research: Conceptual Background and Findings from the 1998 General Social Survey.” Research on Aging25(4):327–65.
22.
KamaluNgozi C.Emmanuel COnyeozili. 2018. “A Critical Analysis of the'Broken Windows' Policing in New York City and Its Impact: Implications for the Criminal Justice System and the African American Community.” African Journal of Criminology & Justice Studies11(1):71–94.
23.
KrauseNeal. 2005. “God-Mediated Control and Psychological Well-Being in Late Life.” Research on Aging27(2):136–64.
24.
KrauseNeal. 2009. “Church‐Based Social Relationships and Change in Self‐Esteem Over Time.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion48(4):756–73.
25.
KrauseNealChristopher GEllison. 2003. “Forgiveness by God, Forgiveness of Others, and Psychological Well–Being in Late Life.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion42(1):77–93.
26.
LeeDaniel B.Melissa KPeckinsAlison LMillerMeredith OHopeEnrique WNeblettShervinAssariJaimeMuñoz-VelázquezMarc AZimmerman. 2021. “Pathways from Racial Discrimination to Cortisol/Dhea Imbalance: Protective Role of Religious Involvement.” Ethnicity & Health26(3):413–30.
27.
LincolnC. EricLawrence HMamiya. 1990. The Black Church in the African American Experience. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press.
28.
MaselkoJoannaLauraKubzanskyIchiroKawachiTeresaSeemanLisaBerkman. 2007. “Religious Service Attendance and Allostatic Load among High-Functioning Elderly.” Psychosomatic Medicine69(5):464–72.
29.
MassogliaMichaelWilliam AlexPridemore. 2015. “Incarceration and Health.” Annual Review of Sociology41:291–310.
30.
McFarlandMichael JJohnTaylorCheryl A SMcFarlandKatherine LFriedman. 2018. “Perceived Unfair Treatment by Police, Race, and Telomere Length: A Nashville Community-Based Sample of Black and White Men.” Journal of Health and Social Behavior59(4):585–600.
31.
McFarlandMichael J.AmandaGellerCherylMcFarland. 2019. “Police Contact and Health Among Urban Adolescents: The Role of Perceived Injustice.” Social Science & Medicine238:112487.
32.
NguyenAnn W.Robert JosephTaylorLinda MChatters. 2016. “Church-Based Social Support among Caribbean Blacks in the United States.” Review of Religious Research58(3):385–406.
33.
NguyenAnn W.Linda MChattersRobert JosephTaylorMaría PArandaKaren DLincolnCourtney SThomas. 2018. “Discrimination, Serious Psychological Distress, and Church-Based Emotional Support among African American Men Across the Life Span.” The Journals of Gerontology: Series B73(2):198–207.
34.
PargamentKenneth I.1997. The Psychology of Religion and Coping: Theory, Research and Practice. London: Guilford Press.
35.
PargamentKenneth I.Bruce WSmithHarold GKoenigLisaPerez. 1998. “Patterns of Positive and Negative Religious Coping with Major Life Stressors.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion37(4):710–24.
36.
PearlinLeonard I.1989. “The Sociological Study of Stress.” Journal of Health and Social Behavior30(3):241–56.
37.
PearlinLeonard I.Carol SAneshenselAllen JLeBlanc. 1997. “The Forms and Mechanisms of Stress Proliferation: The Case of Aids Caregivers.” Journal of Health and Social Behavior38(3):223–36.
38.
RadloffLenore Sawyer. 1977. “The CES-D Scale: A Self-Report Depression Scale for Research in the General Population.” Applied Psychological Measurement1(3):385–401.
39.
RobertsJ. Deotis. 2003. Black Religion, Black Theology: The Collected Essays of J. Deotis Roberts. Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International.
40.
SchiemanScottAlexBiermanChristopher GEllison. 2013. “Religion and Mental Health.” Pp. 457–78 in Handbook of the Sociology of Mental Health. New York: Springer.
41.
SchiemanScottTetyanaPudrovskaLeonard IPearlinChristopher GEllison. 2006. “The Sense of Divine Control and Psychological Distress: Variations across Race and Socioeconomic Status.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion45(4):529–49.
42.
SewellAbigail A.Kevin AJefferson. 2016. “Collateral Damage: The Health Effects of Invasive Police Encounters in New York City.” Journal of Urban Health93(1):42–67.
43.
SewellAbigail A.Kevin AJeffersonHedwigLee. 2016. “Living under Surveillance: Gender, Psychological Distress, and Stop-Question-and-Frisk Policing in New York City.” Social Science & Medicine159:1–13.
44.
SewellAbigail A.2017. “The Illness Associations of Police Violence: Differential Relationships by Ethnoracial Composition.” Sociological Forum32:975–97.
45.
StarkRodneyRogerFinke. 2000. Acts of Faith: Explaining the Human Side of Religion. Berkeley: University of California Press.
46.
TaylorRobert JosephLinda MChattersSeanJoe. 2011. “Non-Organizational Religious Participation, Subjective Religiosity, and Spirituality among Older African Americans and Black Caribbeans.” Journal of Religion and Health50(3):623–45.
47.
TurnerR. JayBlairWheatonDonald ALloyd. 1995. “The Epidemiology of Social Stress.” American Sociological Review60(1):104–25.
48.
TurnerR. JayDonald ALloyd. 1995. “Lifetime Traumas and Mental Health: The Significance of Cumulative Adversity.” Journal of Health and Social Behavior36(4):360–76.
49.
TurneyKristinSaraWakefield. 2019. “Criminal Justice Contact and Inequality.” The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences5(1):1–23.
50.
TurneyKristin. 2020. “Depressive Symptoms among Adolescents Exposed to Personal and Vicarious Police Contact.” Society and Mental Health:2156869320923095.
WashingtonJames Melvin. 1994. Conversations with God: Two Centuries of Prayers by African Americans. New York: Harper Collins Publishers.
53.
WheatonBlair. 1985. “Models for the Stress-Buffering Functions of Coping Resources.” Journal of Health and Social Behavior26(4):352–64.
54.
WilliamsDavid R.YanYuJames SJacksonNorman BAnderson. 1997. “Racial Differences in Physical and Mental Health: Socio-Economic Status, Stress and Discrimination.” Journal of Health Psychology2(3):335–51.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
