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Cited by 1,134Social and Intergroup PsychologyRacial and Ethnic Identity ResearchPolicing Practices and Perceptions

The essence of innocence: Consequences of dehumanizing Black children.

Goff, Phillip Atiba, Jackson, Matthew Christian, Di Leone, Brooke Allison Lewis, Culotta, Carmen Marie, DiTomasso, Natalie Ann·2014·Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
DOI 10.1037/a0035663
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Abstract

The social category "children" defines a group of individuals who are perceived to be distinct, with essential characteristics including innocence and the need for protection (Haslam, Rothschild, & Ernst, 2000). The present research examined whether Black boys are given the protections of childhood equally to their peers. We tested 3 hypotheses: (a) that Black boys are seen as less "childlike" than their White peers, (b) that the characteristics associated with childhood will be applied less when thinking specifically about Black boys relative to White boys, and (c) that these trends would be exacerbated in contexts where Black males are dehumanized by associating them (implicitly) with apes (Goff, Eberhardt, Williams, & Jackson, 2008). We expected, derivative of these 3 principal hypotheses, that individuals would perceive Black boys as being more responsible for their actions and as being more appropriate targets for police violence. We find support for these hypotheses across 4 studies using laboratory, field, and translational (mixed laboratory/field) methods. We find converging evidence that Black boys are seen as older and less innocent and that they prompt a less essential conception of childhood than do their White same-age peers. Further, our findings demonstrate that the Black/ape association predicted actual racial disparities in police violence toward children. These data represent the first attitude/behavior matching of its kind in a policing context. Taken toget…

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  • Judges may be influenced by physical appearance and presentation, which can vary widely in the 14-to-18 age group, rather than by chronological age.

    “judges possibly are influenced by physical appearance and presentation which can vary widely in this age group rather than the chronological age of the youth (Goff et al., 2014).”

    From Transfer of Minors to Adult Court in California: Investigating the Legal/Demographic Factors that Make the Difference (2025) · cites this paper as Goff et al., 2014

  • These narratives are not limited to the discursive realm, as anti-Blackness informs law enforcement practices in relation to Black youth as well as the public and governmental response to incidents of anti-Black state violence.

    “These narratives are not limited to the discursive realm, as anti-Blackness informs law enforcement practices in relation to Black youth as well as the public and governmental response to incidents of anti-Black state violence (Goff et al., 2014; Hill, 2016).”

    From “Thank You, Black Twitter”: State Violence, Digital Counterpublics, and Pedagogies of Resistance (2018) · cites this paper as Goff et al., 2014

  • Explicit racism was unrelated to either university students' or police officers' judgments or behavior.

    “Importantly, explicit racism was unrelated to either university students ' or police of fi cers ' judgments or behavior”

    From A call to dismantle systemic racism in criminal legal systems. (2022) · cites this paper as Goff et al., 2014

  • The more officers implicitly dehumanized Black people, the more they reported having used force against Black boys in the past.

    “Indeed, Goff et al. (2014) found that the more of fi cers implicitly dehumanized Black people, the more they reported having used force against Black boys in the past.”

    From A call to dismantle systemic racism in criminal legal systems. (2022) · cites this paper as Goff et al., 2014

  • People implicitly dehumanize Black people.

    “In addition, people implicitly dehumanize Black people.”

    From A call to dismantle systemic racism in criminal legal systems. (2022) · cites this paper as Goff et al., 2014

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Authors
Goff, P. A., Jackson, M. C., Di Leone, B. A. L., Culotta, C. M., & DiTomasso, N. A.
Affiliations
  • University of California, Los Angeles (US)
  • Pennsylvania State University (US)
  • University of Pennsylvania (US)
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Publisher
American Psychological Association (APA)
Published
2014-04
Volume
106
Issue
4
Pages
526-545
ISSN
  • 0022-3514 (ISSN-L)
  • 1939-1315
DOI
10.1037/a0035663
OpenAlex
W2102775714
Cited by
1,134
References
66
Citations by year
2026: 64 · 2025: 105 · 2024: 133 · 2023: 119 · 2022: 124 · 2021: 131 · 2020: 107 · 2019: 91 · 2018: 100 · 2017: 63 · 2016: 61 · 2015: 27 · 2014: 8
FWCI
172.72
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • Russel Sage Foundation
  • W. K. Kellogg Foundation
  • Atlantic Philanthropies
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Racial and Ethnic Identity Research
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Policing Practices and Perceptions
Keywords
dehumanization, Black children, innocence, childhood, racial disparities in policing, police brutality, Black boys, intergroup perception, age perception
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Age Factors, Attitude, Child, Crime, Female, Hispanic or Latino, Humans, Male, Morals, Police, Dehumanization, Black People, White People, Young Adult, Racism

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