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 …show more content…
In the article, “Shooting of Philando Castile”, on Wikapedia.org, Officer Jeronimo Yanez comes face to face with his own implicit bias when pulling over African American, Philando Castile and his passenger when believed to be matching the description of a local robbery occurring moments before. Officer Jeronimo Yanez made a personal discretion on the African American when suspecting he was reaching for a gun when asked to pull out his license and registration. Officer Jeronimo was alerted “Castile told the officer he was licensed to carry a weapon and had one in his pants pocket” (“Shooting of Philando Castile”). Officer Jeronimo Yanez takes it upon himself to follow through and shoot Philando when fearing he was reaching to pull out a gun, ultimately resulting in the fatal injury of Philando Castile. Suddenly, implicit bias clouded Officer Yanez discretion leading him to make a split decision. In this case, and in an overall aspect in the criminal justice system and it is an individual’s moral responsibility to take control and either except the bias or take an alternative route and do something about it rather than ignore …show more content…
Specifically African Americans have the negative connotation of being violent criminals. This is one of the many implicit bias humans face. In Brandon Stahls’ article, he goes on to further this viewpoint focusing on racial subjecting when his contributor reports, “Nobody in the world gets stopped that many times,” Castile’s mother, Valerie Castile, said in an interview. “I know people that live their whole life without ever having a ticket. So you accumulate that many tickets, that is obvious something is going on” (Stahl). If Officer Yanez was educated when handling his personal implicit bias, Philando Castile may still be with us today. There comes a certain point in life when an individuals’ education should be upheld and they are accountable for controlling their personal discretion and altering their overall implicit bias. Responsibility falls upon the individual who may be blameworthy for failing to take responsibility for implicit bias once they are aware that they are likely to be influenced by them. When a situation occurs that an individual needs to focus solely on his or her beliefs and to control their actions when these things occur. Even if someone says they are impartial, it is a part of human nature that we rely on implicit bias to deem a certain group or person responsible for a wrong act. Even though implicit bias are subconscious thoughts every person is responsible for ones own
policies that are currently in place to reduce tension between police officers and the minority groups that they serveLaw enforcement officers and the community have been disconnected. Violence and brutality of any kind, particularly at the hands of the police who here to protect and serve our communities. When Ferguson, Missouri exploded after the police shot an unarmed black teenager, the tension between the community and its protectors was laid bare. Ferguson is not the first and certainly not the last community forced to bridge that chasm. In South Carolina a policeman shot an unarmed black male who was stopped for a seat belt violation. The cop asked the male for ID, who then reached under his seat to retrieve his wallet, but was shot in the leg by the cop before he could take out his ID. When the body cam video was reviewed it shows that the trigger happy cop probably was in fear of his life, however it is also obvious that the cop shouldn’t have felt threaten as the behavior of the black male involved nothing unusual. Many would say if the driver was white the cop would have not reacted the way he did.
Racial Bias and Automatic Response in the Misidentification of WeaponsOn March 18th, 2018 Sacramento police officers shot and killed 22-year-old Stephon Clark in the backyard of his grandmother’s house after mistaking his cellphone for a gun. The fatal shooting of Stephon Clark is just one of many incidences where unarmed black men have fallen victim to implicit racial biases. When police officers are pressured to make split second decisions their unconscious biases toward black men becomes present and influences their judgement against black men whom they suspect to be armed with guns but are in fact unarmed. With today’s technological advancements and the media’s ability to reach a large population of people there is greater awareness of
Define implicit bias and give an example. The definition of implicit refers to something that is suggested or implied but never clearly said. An example of implicit is when the wife gives her husband a dirty look when she drops the husband's socks on the floor. Implicit Bias is also known as implicit social cognition; implicit bias refers to the attitudes of the people or the stereotypes that tend to affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unaware situation (Ohio State University, 2015). An example of implicit bias is when some doctors had become shown a patient history and where asked to decide about heart disease. The doctors were more likely to recommend cardiac cauterization an effective procedure to help the patients to
Implicit bias is an individual’s internal beliefs regarding others and influences how people conduct themselves in various settings and situations and may result in injustices such as stereotyping or racial profiling. The National Center for States Courts defines implicit bias as “judgement or behavior that results from subtle cognitive processes.” This behavior is difficult to identify, because people typically respond and behave in ways that seem appropriate and protect their own interests. Furthermore, these beliefs are more often subconscious than overt. Some groups are working to deter implicit bias and promote diversity.
It can be difficult to maintain a different mindset, and sometimes relapses can occur. The implicit associations we harbor cause us to have feelings and attitudes about others based on characteristics such as race, ethnicity, age, and appearance, which can produce structural injustice. This is often seen in law enforcement, for example, police officers pulling over Philandro Castille over 44 times due to subconscious racial profiling. Structural injustices that people experience can be a result of “often unconscious assumptions and reaction of well-meaning people in ordinary interactions, media and cultural stereotypes, and…the normal processes of everyday life” (Young, 72). Everyone possesses some implicit bias shown through his/her actions. Even if an individual does not intend to be biased, certain stereotypes and beliefs are innate due to his/her upbringing. For example, in media, African-Americans are portrayed as drug dealers and/or criminals. Due to this, people tend to associate African-Americans with such stereotypes. Law enforcers are not immune to this exposure and form an implicit bias against these ethnic groups. They should not be blamed for their unintentional implicit biases, but should still hold some responsibility for their actions. In the case of Philandro Castile, Officer Jeronimo Yanez should have considered his actions, but his subconscious told
People tend to think that they don’t have any biases against minority groups. However, unbeknownst to them, research has shown that many people actually do harbor negative biases, in the form of automatic associations. In a study performed by B. Keith Payne, at the University of North Carolina, he tested to see whether participants have an unintended racial bias towards African-Americans. To test this, he used an Implicit Association Test (IAT). This test uses a matching method to find any hidden biases in the test taker. He found that participants indeed showed racial bias towards African-Americans, even though it was completely unintended (Payne). Last week, we wanted to see whether we have a bias for
This case was an example of how African Americans are born with the “birthmark” of targets on them. Castile, a black man, was pulled over by a police officer for running a red light. When the officer came over to give him his ticket. During the talk, Castile respectfully told the police officer that he had a gun. He did this to inform the officer that he has a weapon but will do no harm as he has a gun license. But the officer overreacted started shooting even when Castile said that he would not take it out. The main suspected reason that the officer shot at Castile was because he was African American. This infamous case can clearly represent the target on all African Americans as shown in the
Human beings are responsible for all of the moral choices that they make, and for any consequences that may occur as a result of these choices. The nature of the term “implicit bias” suggests the existence of unconscious biases which are based on negative stereotypes related to race, gender, sex, religion etc. When trying to understand the moral implications of implicit bias, conflicts arise because people generally are not held responsible for actions beyond their control. In the journal article entitled Racial Microaggressions in Everyday Life, the authors describe various examples of implicit bias such as when a white woman clutches her purse as a black man approaches, or when a person of color is mistaken for a service worker. In both
One hundred and sixty-six exonerations took place in 2016, according to the National Registry of Exonerations, setting a new record (“Exonerations 2016” 3). Indeed, misconvictions are now seen as part of the normal judicial process(“Exonerations 2016” 17). However, why are there so many mistakes in convicting individuals? One of the largest causes may be biases within the courts. Implicit bias in the American judicial system may seriously impact the underprivileged in receiving impartial verdicts in the legal system and access to quality lawyers.
Over the years, there have been numerous cases of African-American men being shot and killed by white police officers. According to many of these police officers, it was just a rapid decision to pull the trigger. Correspondingly, implicit biases have resulted in these ideologies, making African-American men seem more violent than white men. In fact, there are many studies that demonstrate how police officers are affected by implicit biases. For example, a study had college students play a computer game where the objective was to shoot dangerous armed
Implicit biases are “‘habits of mind,’ learned over time through repeated personal experiences and cultural socialization, which can be activated unintentionally, often outside of one’s own awareness, and are difficult to control” (Burgess, Beach & Saha, 2017, p. 372). Implicit bias is seen in the medical field partly because of the time pressure of medical visits, and the reliance on stereotypes in situations of high stress. It is difficult to study implicit bias because of social desirability. No doctor wants to admit that they are biased and, as a result, they are going to do their best to demonstrate the socially desirable response of being non-biased. However, research shows that bias and prejudice from health care providers toward patients exists, and leads to poorer care related to the assessment of cardiovascular risk and whether or not a patient is referred for additional treatment (Stepanikova, I., 2012). Even health care providers from one of the best health care organizations in the world, Mayo Clinic, struggle with
Social psychologists have studied the cause and effect of biases, specifically by white police officers towards minorities. Implicit bias, specifically racial bias, describes a psychological process in which a person’s unconscious racial belief (stereotypes) and attitudes (prejudices) affect his or her behaviors, perceptions, and judgments in ways that they are largely unaware of and typically, unable to control (Graham).
In the year 2018, there are still numerous signs of racial bias that’s evident throughout the criminal justice system. The way in which policing tries to serve and protect the major population is sometimes seen being done in discriminating ways. Racial profiling is another key contributor to racial bias throughout America especially towards African Americans. African Americans are noticeably given harsher sentences than whites in situations where the offense was the same for both. There are deviant and corrupt agents throughout much of the criminal justice system and it still hasn’t been addressed properly in a way that everyone starts to understand the negative impacts that are being done together. Some police officers may feel the need to
“You are a racist!” is a phrase that produces anxiety and triggers defensive mindsets, especially in work environments. Are you racist? Are you sexist? Are you bias? The answers to these questions might not be as stress-free to answer as you believe. Is it possible to be biased without the intent to be biased? Yes. There are two different types of biases; explicit bias and implicit bias. Explicit bias is when you consciously believe that certain races, genders, or religions are inferior. Implicit bias is when you think that you are unbiased but actually perform unconscious bias actions. Recognizing implicit bias is no easy undertaking which is why there have been theoretical attempts to avert implicit bias before it materializes. In the modern business world, unintentional prejudiced actions happen every day. In his paper “Context and the Ethics of Implicit Bias,” Michael Brownstein attempts to find a solution to these critical issues. In this essay, I will attempt to explain the theories behind the three ‘ethics of implicit bias’ and what problems arise in each situation according to Brownstein. I will then describe the advanced contextualist approach of Brownstein’s and why I consider his strategy to be the most effective in business settings through my own personal experiences.
Racial Bias are a direct correlation to police violence against African Americans, stereotypes perpetuated by social constructions and media representation along with individual prejudice help by police officers view African Americans as a threat especially African American men. Police trust this ideology of “threat” to assist in their use of excessive force against African Americans to comply. (Tyler, 2011; Tyler et al., 2015, Skinner, Haas,2016).