The Role of Mortality Salience and Social Identity in Police Officers and Students Reporting Misconduct

Over the past several decades, high-profile police shootings, police brutality, and police misconduct have contributed to a decreased trust in policing in the United States. Beyond the severity and abuse of power, many of these incidents have also revealed that officers have covered up these incidents from the public. The refusal of police officers to both report misconduct or cover it up is well established and known as the “blue wall of silence.” However, no previous studies have examined the psychological processes behind this failure to report fellow officer misconduct. Two psychological theories that may explain this failure are Terror Management Theory (TMT), specifically mortality salience, and Social Identity Theory. Mortality salience suggests that reminders of one’s death increases the likelihood of protecting in-group members. Social Identity Theory has also established that increased group identification decreases the likelihood of punishing fellow in-group members. Current police training emphasizes the allegedly dangerous nature of the job while simultaneously emphasizing the importance of protecting fellow officers’ lives. The current set of studies manipulated mortality salience and social identity to identify the role each may play in the likelihood of police reporting fellow officer misconduct. As it is unclear the role that police training and culture may have on reporting fellow officer misconduct, identifying how students interested in a career in law enforcement are impacted by mortality salience and social identity on the likelihood of reporting misconduct provides opportunities to implement evidence-based policy reforms focused on increasing the likelihood of police reporting misconduct. Through two studies, this research explored the influence that morality salience and social identity had on the likelihood that police officers and students would report misconduct. Study 1 manipulated mortality salience and social identity and assessed the likelihood that police officers would report fellow officer misconduct. Contrary to previous research, police officers overwhelmingly stated they would report fellow officer misconduct. However, the results revealed an effect of the guardian mindset of policing on predicting the likelihood of police reporting misconduct. Surprisingly, officers also rated themselves as significantly more likely than other officers to report the misconduct. Study 2 tested whether students interested in a career in law enforcement failed to report fellow student misconduct because of mortality salience or social identity. Results from Study 2 found that students stated they would not report the misconduct, regardless of the attempted manipulations of both mortality salience and social identity. The results of the two studies did not find the predicted effects of mortality salience and social identity on the likelihood of reporting misconduct. However, it did raise further questions about the role of police training in reporting misconduct and the disconnect between the findings of officers’ ratings of the likelihood of reporting and the numerous real-world examples of police failing to report misconduct. I discuss implications of these findings and future directions for research

Dynamic changes in microglial and macrophage characteristics during degeneration and regeneration of the zebrafish retina

Abstract Background In contrast to mammals, zebrafish have the capacity to regenerate retinal neurons following a variety of injuries. Two types of glial cells, Müller glia (MG) and microglia, are known to exist in the zebrafish retina. Recent work has shown that MG give rise to regenerated retinal neurons, but the role of resident microglia, and the innate immune system more generally, during retinal regeneration is not well defined. Specifically, characteristics of the immune system and microglia following substantial neuron death and a successful regenerative response have not been documented. Methods The neurotoxin ouabain was used to induce a substantial retinal lesion of the inner retina in zebrafish. This lesion results in a regenerative response that largely restores retinal architecture, neuronal morphologies, and connectivities, as well as recovery of visual function. We analyzed cryosections from damaged eyes following immunofluorescence and H&E staining to characterize the initial immune response to the lesion. Whole retinas were analyzed by confocal microscopy to characterize microglia morphology and distribution. Statistical analysis was performed using a two-tailed Student’s t test comparing damaged to control samples. Results We find evidence of early leukocyte infiltration to the retina in response to ouabain injection followed by a period of immune cell proliferation that likely includes both resident microglia and substantial numbers of proliferating, extra-retinally derived macrophages, leading to rapid accumulation upon retinal damage. Following immune cell proliferation, Müller glia re-enter the cell cycle. In retinas that have regenerated the layers lost to the initial injury (histologically regenerated), microglia retain morphological features of activation, suggesting ongoing functions that are likely essential to restoration of retinal function. Conclusions Collectively, these results indicate that microglia and the immune system are dynamic during a successful regenerative response in the retina. This study provides an important framework to probe inflammation in the initiation of, and functional roles of microglia during retinal regeneration