OBJECTIVE Our study examined officers' attitudes and perceptions of adolescents in general (and challenges in policing adolescents) and the degree to which community variables affect those perceptions. HYPOTHESES Our examinations of officers' descriptions of adolescents and challenges in policing adolescents were exploratory. We hypothesized that community characteristics would significantly influence officers' perceptions of adolescents, such that working in more impoverished, higher crime, and more proportionally Black communities would be associated with more negative perceptions of adolescents. METHOD Data were obtained from 1,112 active law enforcement officers representing 30 police agencies/departments across the United States. Participating officers completed a survey about adolescents and challenges in policing adolescents. Publicly available data sets were used to measure select community and police agency/departmental characteristics. We examined qualitative data using an inductive methodological approach. RESULTS Police officers' descriptions of adolescents were significantly more negative than positive. Negativity was observed in the relative frequency of negative versus positive comments about adolescents as well as the use of inherently problematic descriptors. Police officers working in more impoverished, higher crime, and more proportionally Black communities displayed significantly more problematic attitudes and significantly fewer positive attitudes compared with those in less proportionally Black communities. The findings related to race were partially-but not completely-explained by other community variables. CONCLUSIONS Officers' negative descriptors, their occasional use of inherently problematic terms, and the intensification of those tendencies when working in communities with more poverty, higher crime, and a larger proportion of Black residents suggest an urgent need for intervention to help officers better understand youth. Training that would help police officers better understand youth, recognize developmental influences, and see each youth individually rather than as a representative of a group could help officers interact more supportively with youth, be less likely to inadvertently create confrontation, and more effectively de-escalate situations involving distressed or activated youth. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

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社区犯罪、贫困和黑人居民的比例影响警察对青少年的描述。

目标 我们的研究调查了警官对一般青少年的态度和看法（以及青少年监管方面的挑战）以及社区变量对这些看法的影响程度。假设 我们对警官对青少年的描述和青少年警务挑战的检查是探索性的。我们假设社区特征会显着影响警官对青少年的看法，因此在更贫困、犯罪率更高、比例更高的黑人社区工作将与对青少年的更多负面看法相关联。方法 数据来自代表美国 30 个警察机构/部门的 1,112 名现役执法人员。参与人员完成了一项关于青少年和青少年警务挑战的调查。公开可用的数据集用于衡量选定的社区和警察机构/部门的特征。我们使用归纳方法检查了定性数据。结果 警察对青少年的描述负面多于正面。从对青少年的负面评论与正面评论的相对频率以及使用固有问题的描述符中观察到消极性。与在黑人比例较低的社区工作的警察相比，在更贫困、犯罪率更高和比例更高的黑人社区工作的警察表现出明显更多的问题态度和更少的积极态度。与种族相关的发现部分（但不完全）由其他社区变量解释。结论官员的 负面描述、他们偶尔使用本质上有问题的术语，以及在贫困程度更高、犯罪率更高和黑人居民比例更大的社区工作时这些倾向的加剧表明，迫切需要进行干预，以帮助官员更好地了解年轻人。有助于警官更好地了解青年、认识发展影响并单独看待每个青年而不是作为群体代表的培训可以帮助警官更支持地与青年互动，不太可能无意中造成对抗，并更有效地缓和局势涉及痛苦或积极青年的情况。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2023 APA，保留所有权利）。在贫困程度更高、犯罪率更高且黑人居民比例更大的社区工作时，这些倾向的加剧表明迫切需要进行干预，以帮助官员更好地了解年轻人。有助于警官更好地了解青年、认识发展影响并单独看待每个青年而不是作为群体代表的培训可以帮助警官更支持地与青年互动，不太可能无意中造成对抗，并更有效地缓和局势涉及痛苦或积极青年的情况。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2023 APA，保留所有权利）。在贫困程度更高、犯罪率更高且黑人居民比例更大的社区工作时，这些倾向的加剧表明迫切需要进行干预，以帮助官员更好地了解年轻人。有助于警官更好地了解青年、认识发展影响并单独看待每个青年而不是作为群体代表的培训可以帮助警官更支持地与青年互动，不太可能无意中造成对抗，并更有效地缓和局势涉及痛苦或积极青年的情况。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2023 APA，保留所有权利）。有助于警官更好地了解青年、认识发展影响并单独看待每个青年而不是作为群体代表的培训可以帮助警官更支持地与青年互动，不太可能无意中造成对抗，并更有效地缓和局势涉及痛苦或积极青年的情况。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2023 APA，保留所有权利）。有助于警官更好地了解青年、认识发展影响并单独看待每个青年而不是作为群体代表的培训可以帮助警官更支持地与青年互动，不太可能无意中造成对抗，并更有效地缓和局势涉及痛苦或积极青年的情况。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2023 APA，保留所有权利）。