In the shoes of George Zimmerman: the impact of promotion of mistrust, subcultural diversity and fear of crime on expected personal reactions

Abstract

Abstract: In February 2012, George Zimmerman, a Hispanic man, shot and killed Trayvon Martin, an African-American teen, after encountering Martin walking in a hoodie in the rain in his neighborhood. A media frenzy followed, focusing on the racial differences between the two and the possible injustice of the incident. A key legal and public question was whether Zimmerman was acting in self-defense or based on racial stereotypes. Based in the fear of crime and racial socialization literature, this study examines the impacts of racial socialization, fear of crime, and subcultural diversity on university students’ expected reactions to an incident very similar to the Zimmerman–Martin encounter. We find that the race of the person encountered is not a significant predictor of how these university students expected to respond. In addition, while fear of crime and subcultural diversity also fail to reach significance, promotion of mistrust of other races is related in this sample to willingness to pull a gun and shoot one. Given the policy and public significance of behavioral reactions to crime, we call for much more research before making conclusions about the impact of racial differences and mistrust on how people might react in potentially threatening situations.