CULTURAL DIVERSITY

Police Department
The University of Texas at Dallas
Ofc. Steve Finney

Cultural Diversity
Society is a complex cluster of groups and individuals bound together by the rule of law. Law Enforcement officials are therefore responsible for dealing with all of the society. One finds many cultures, subcultures, families, traditions, gender arrangements, health & economic conditions & loose agreements that inform decisions and actions of groups and individuals.

Purpose
Assess situations fairly, clearly & quickly Learn how to perceive diversity as a

resource Improve relations with community Reduce adversarial relations, thereby reducing: lawsuits complaints general ill-will toward law enforcement

Community
What types of groups, organizations or

associations are in our UTD community? Which do you belong to? What types of groups are in our greater surrounding areas? DFW What types of groups are in our nation? What types of groups are in our world?

Prejudice Against...
Age? Race? Ethnicity? Nationality? Gender? Sexual Religion?
Weight? Height?

Social Status?
Income? Others?
Fraternity? Athletic Team? Rival University?

Orientation? Disability?

Forms of Prejudice
Ageism Racism Sexism & Sexual Harassment Homophobia Ethnocentrism Nationalism Economic Physical Appearance Religious Others

Results of Prejudice & Hate

Inequality in the Law: Crack vs. Cocaine Ignorance: About reality and commonality Hate Crimes: James Byrd, Matthew

Shepard, Arab-Americans Inability to work professionally and climb the latter of success. Hurt, Pain, Fear, Low Self Esteem Others?

Hate Crimes
Crimes committed (usually violent) against a person(s) merely because there are or are perceived to be a member of a particular group. Secondary effects include terrorization of the entire group.

African-Americans
Arab-Americans Senior Citizens Gays and Lesbians

Physically Disabled people

Other people of color Jews (Religious or Ethnic)

Immigrants
Mentally Ill Others

Modern Racism
A newer, more subtle prejudice marked by an uncertainty in feelings and action toward minorities. Often expressed in a less open manner than was formerly common.

Why do you think this is the case? What can be done to help eliminate modern racism?

Definitions
Attitude: Mental & Neural state of readiness, organized through

experience, exerting a directive and dynamic influence upon the individuals response to all objects and situations with which it is related. They come from conditioning or mere exposure to a stimulus. Attitudes flow from and express our values. A value is a conception of what is desirable, a guideline for a persons actions, standard for behavior. Prejudice: A bias, often negative attitude formed about a group of people or individual because they are members of a particular group. Stereotype: A set of rigid beliefs, positive or negative, about the characteristics or attributes of a group. A mental picture generally developed as a result of a myth. Discrimination: Overt or subtle behavior directed toward people simply because they are presumed to be members of a particular group. In law enforcement it is defined as: an unfavorable action toward people because they are members of a group. Thus, if a person seems to be prejudiced against others, then that person is more likely to discriminate. Discrimination can be addressed in law.

Roots of Prejudice
Human beings are cognitive misers, that is, we prefer the least

effortful means of processing social information. People try to simplify problems by using shortcuts, primarily involving categorybased processes. In other words, when peoples ability to process information is diminished, they tend to fall back on available stereotypes. Who wants to be correct in their assessment or evaluation of a particular situation? Who strives for accurate, correct knowledge and understanding? Strategies of cognitive misers and those who have a tendency to categorize, lead human beings into a variety of cognitive misconceptions and errors. Serious errors include: In-group bias, Illusory Correlation, Fundamental attribution error, Confirmation bias and Out-group homogeneity bias.

Causes I
In-group Bias: The powerful tendency that humans have to favor the in-

group, the group to which they belong, over out-groups. Social Identity Theory says: humans are motivated to positively evaluate their own groups - and value them over other groups- in order to maintain and enhance self-esteem. Language is important, positive & negative trait words. Examples? Xenopboia - irrational fear of the unfamiliar Illusory Correlation: A belief that two unrelated events are systematically related (covary). It is an error in judgment about the relationship between two variables. e.g. if you wear a particular shirt each time to go bowling and bowl very well, you may come to the belief that there is a connection between bowling and the shirt. Similarly, if you think members of a minority group are more likely than members of a majority to have a negative trait, then you perceive a correlation between group membership and behavior. Studies show: if both a majority and minority group have the same negative trait (criminal behavior), the negative behavior will be more distinctive when paired with the minority as compared to the majority.

Causes II
The fact that negative information about a different group grabs your

attention does not necessarily lead to discrimination (action). There must be a link between the negative information and prejudiced behavior. Fundamental Attribution Error: Tendency to overestimate internal (race) reasons and underestimate external (situational) ones (poverty). Confirmation Bias (Self-Fulfilling Prophecy): Studies show that stereotypes can influence social interactions in ways that lead to their confirmation. Stereotypes are both self-confirming and resistant to change. It is a self-confirming quality about expectations about others. In other words, once people have a stereotype, they evaluate information within that context, thereby they behave in a certain way so that others react in a way that confirms the stereotype. Examples? If you expect a person to be hostile, your very expectation and manner in which you behave may bring on that hostility.

Causes III
We often find individual members of a group to which we do not belong

indistinguishable from one another. Why? Out-Group Homogeneity Bias: Phenomenon of perceiving members of the out-group as all alike. We dont do this with our group (in-group) because be have a fair amount of information about members of our own group, therefore we can differentiate among them. Research shows that OGHB leads us to think that members of out-groups are more similar to each other than members of in-groups. This leads us to assume that negative behavior of one out-group member reflects characteristics of all out-group members.
Q: What happens when a member of our own group does something just

as negative? What do we think about the in-group individual vs. the ingroup?

Look in the Mirror

A: We blame the the individual person of our own in-group for the

negative behavior instead of blaming the entire in-group. Why?

Ultimate Attribution Error: We are more likely to give in-group

members the benefit of the doubt than out-group members. Once we construct categories, we tend to hold on to them tightly. We may do so innocently because it may be automatic or nonconscious, but it is destructive because stereotypes are inaccurate and often damaging. Most stereotypes are unjustified generalizations; that is, they are not accurate. But, even if some are somewhat accurate, they still have a damaging effect on our perception of others. None of us would wish to be judged as an individual by the worst examples of the group(s) to which we belong. e.g. Police officer brutality Even if accurate why is it damaging? Because individuals cannot be adequately described by reference to the groups to which they belong.

Dont Fall in the Trap & Talk the Talk Show Courage & Walk the Walk!
Sensitivity and constant self monitoring. Nonprejudiced people realize that there is a gap between their stereotypes

and their general beliefs about equality. These people have to continually work to change their stereotypical thinking. All people have prejudices. Differences occur because of personal standards about acceptable behavior. High Prejudice Individuals - are more willing to indulge in negative thoughts and behaviors toward members of different ethnic racial and other groups. Low Prejudice Individuals- hold practically the same stereotypes as HPI, but they believe these stereotypes are wrong. They feel self critical and guilty if they express prejudiced thoughts and feelings and make a real effort to change their thinking and not let it affect their behavior.

Reducing Stereotypes & Prejudice

Contact Hypothesis: contact between groups will reduce

hostility when the participants have equal status and a mutual goal? Current example? WTC Personalizing Out-Group Members: opposite of dehumanizing people. Realize and understand we and they have a shared humanity and that we feel the same joys and pains. e.g. Schindlers List Social Norms: show disapproval when you encounter prejudice or discrimination. Apply peer-pressure. Display courage to stand up for what is right. Be a leader! Golden Rule: DO unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Benefits of Valuing Diversity

Enhanced community support and public trust
Improved quality of service Reduced tension Avoid adversarial contact with the law

Increased access to cultural communities

Ensure compliance with letter & spirit of the law Reduction of litigation (personal and agency)

Improved moral, effectiveness & professionalism

Positive impact of law enforcement image More accurate understanding of reality & the world