Police as “Helpers”: Social Studies Content Standards and Dominant Narratives of Law Enforcement

Curricular standards have the potential to elevate dominant ideology at the expense of marginalized perspectives. Recently, dominant narratives of police as a community benefit have been passionately challenged in the public sphere. Through a critical discourse analysis of social studies content standards of 50 states, we evaluate which narratives about law enforcement are reinforced in K–12 curricula. While police in marginalized communities...