Racial Bias By White Police Officers Essay

Implicit bias is bias in one’s judgment or behavior that results from one’s unconscious associations. In order to thoroughly discuss implicit bias, implicit associations must first be examined. Implicit associations refer to one’s unconscious associations between a group and how one feels about said group. For example, a person may subconsciously associate straight people as “normal” and homosexuals as “wrong”. They may have this unconscious association even if they do not express this opinion

It was with some trepidation that I awaited my score for the Presidential Implicit Association Test (IAT). Was it possible that I am subconsciously racist? Despite the fact that I genuinely don’t look at Barack Obama any differently because he is black; the nature of this test forces your mind and body to work so quickly in synch that it forces a high level of veracity. Luckily in both of my IAT results my subconscious did not betray me, but it did require a certain amount of concentration at times, which might make a statement in and of itself.

discusses the results of a Implicit Association Test which measures a persons automatic association between mental representation of objects in the memory. Nearly 88 percent of the white race who took the Implicit Association Test show inherent racial bias. They have found when white people carry a implicit racial bias that they subconsciously prefer white people over black people in areas such as employment and academic. People don't even realize that they have a subconscious biases against a certain race. Which can affect how they interact with them. America still has a problem with race, The Civil War ended many years ago but the war between races still exist . Once we acknowledge the truth behind inherent racial bias we can move towards

This is shown in a variety of ways, however in specific by segregation making whites seem superior and people making hiring decisions based on the names of practically equal candidates. As the effect of Jim Crow laws has helped to separate blacks and whites in the South and mentally all of America, many people found no choice but to acquaint themselves with those of their own race, which remains an issue today. This concept is explained in the following quote: “Experts say America is still struggling to reverse the legacy of institutional racism that has left many communities segregated today, creating the pool from which we form relationships and social circles,” (CNN). Although it may seem incorrect, the reason why racial stereotypes exist and make white people more dominant is in part because of the change segregation made that had to be undone. A specific example of this kind of implicit bias is shown in the next example, which regards a case study where business owners were given two résumés, one for a theoretical white man, Brendan, and the other a theoretical black man, Jamal. Further detail is said in this quote: “Because the résumés were statistically identical, any differences in outcomes could be attributed only to the factor we manipulated: the names,” (New York Times). As stated in the quote, the résumés were pretty much the same, which is where implicit bias comes in. The business owners most times chose “Brendan” over “Jamal” for the reason that their names are usually associated with white and black men respectfully. Business owners want people in their company that they can trust, and more often than not it is interpreted that white men are more trustworthy than black, regardless of character. A connection between the visit of Reynolds and Kiely and the concept of bias in the context of the police force

The Implicit Association Test or IAT is a valuable tool that those in the criminal justice system use; often times during the hiring process candidates will be required to complete the IAT so that hiring officials can see if they have any unconscious bias. The IAT is still relatively new in terms of psychological research only being created in the 1990’s by psychologist Anthony Greenwald (Kaufman, 2011). Individuals who take the race portion of the test are shown pictures of Caucasian and African-American males or females, then are given positive or negative words that they associate with each race as fast as possible. After taking the test it measures the unconscious bias that everyone has deep down (Kaufman, 2011).

Over the past several years, the use of race by law enforcement agencies in their policing activities has received considerable attention across the country. The controversy regarding "racial profiling" has centered on police departments' practices related to traffic stops—examining whether police have targeted drivers based on their race or ethnicity. Significant anecdotal evidence has suggested that some departments may be treating drivers of some races or ethnicities differently than white drivers. Parties using multiple definitions have complicated the debate over racial profiling. Variation among these definitions means that interested parties are often discussing different types of police practices, behavior,

The third primary hypothesis is that “personal and vicarious experience with police bias would amplify the perception that police discriminating against minority individuals.” And the secondary hypothesis is that it will affect Blacks and Hispanics more than the white Americans. The results for the two models showed that only personal experience and not vicarious experience is statistically significant to viewed bias among blacks and Hispanics but not among whites. And in the other two models, results showed that vicarious experience significantly affects the citizen’s view of racially biased

Police enforcement targeting minorities based on the color of their skin and not by evidence of unlawful doing is racial profiling. Today, racial profiling among law enforcement has become a controversial topic throughout the nation. A recent event in Ferguson, Missouri, Michael Brown, an unarmed black teen, was shot and killed by a white police officer. The shooting caused major racial tension among the black community and mistrust in police. Michael’s death has lead to weeks of protest in which the officers responded with tear gas and rubber bullets and curfews for citizens. It’s wrong to target an individual due to the color of their skin, however, racial profiling is a procedure used by law enforcement regularly. This study focuses on racial profiling, how race and ethnicity play a major role in police stops and how it’s caused a major distrust in police. The studies expose racial profiling being used on racial minority groups in traffic stops, tasers use, based on assumptions that may be false.

According to the poll, blacks rated among the highest of all groups that believed that racial profiling was widespread with the exception of one area that involved airport security. Yet, was the least likely all three categories to believe that the profiling was justified, with Hispanics the second highest. The chart was challenging for me to wrap my head around, because blacks ranked the highest that believed racial profiling was widespread, but the least likely to believe that it was justified. Ironically, according to the research that conducted a growing number of experts and scholars agree that a large sum of the racial disparities among the races are contributed to the unconscious associations (stereotypes) that people makes about racial

The use of racially bias policing isn’t a new phenomenon, however, there is very little data on its use and practice. A lot of that accounts for the fact that determining that a law enforcement officer used racial bias as a method to stop, question and frisk a person is substantially hard. Furthermore, racially bias policing has been an issue facing police since the creation of the first police agencies in the country and since the civil rights movement; however, the public has now become more aware of the phenomenon because of various accounts portrayed in the media; such as the death of Amadou Diallo in 1999.

Knowing, understanding, and being aware of personal biases is the first step in the development of plans or strategies overcoming biases. As nurses we must recognize and be more sensitive to the care provided to patients and understand that differences do exist in and between the differing races, cultures, and ethnic groups (Giger, 2013, p. 3). The Implicit Association Test (IAT) is used to identify and provide an awareness to biases that are consciously or unconsciously present in an individuals actions and beliefs (Project Implicit, 2011). After completing the Race IAT, Gender-Career IAT and Religion IAT, I will discuss the prejudices, biases, and stereotypical thinking present in my life and share what steps can be taken to reduce or eliminate

Cochran, J. C., & Warren, P. Y. (2012, May). Racial, Ethnic, and Gender Differences in Perceptions of the Police. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 28(2), 206-227.

No matter who you are or what part of the world you are from implicit bias are a constant issue in society. These tendencies typically stem from structural injustice, implicit bias, and personal discretion. Structural injustice is when a category of people are associated with an insufficient status when comparing to other groups of people engaging in the same actions. Implicit bias are stances and stereotypes that affect our comprehension, actions and decisions held by our unconscious manner. These bias are involuntarily and are done without individuals awareness or intentional control. Everyone is exposed to these biases at a young age through the media, parents, and teachers. Each individual holds possession of implicit bias whether they

The Implicit Association Test (IAT) is performed to reveal aspects and traits about a person that they would not be able to admit about themselves if asked. How people act on the outside can often deceive others, but when it comes to this test it is hard to hide the unconscious feelings. This test goes deeper in the mind and thoughts, perhaps more than the person knew about themselves. The test requires quick responses, while also using compatible conditions and incompatible conditions to try to trick the mind. For example, compatible conditions would be whites associated with a positive word and blacks associated with a negative word and incompatible would be vice versa. The basis of the IAT is to measure whether a person has higher or lower

The Implicit Association Test was established by Anthony Grenwald, Mahzarin Banaji, and Brian Nosek. This test assesses your attitude or views towards a certain subject, it is your automatic response on an unconscious level. The Test results you recieve may be the complete opposite of your conscious beliefs and views. You have two levels of thinking your conscious and unconscious level, in your conscious level you have your beliefs and values that control our behavior deliberately, then your unconscious level which is our immediate automatic response to something. The