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Assessing the racial aspects of police force using the implicit- and counter-bias perspectives

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  • Fridell, Lorie
  • Lim, Hyeyoung

Abstract

The events in Ferguson in August 2014 reignited the longstanding national discussion of race and the police use of force. Recent theory and research from those who study human biases have produced contradictory predictions about how a subject's race might impact on officers' decisions to use force. The “implicit-bias perspective” claims that officer's biases should produce a greater tendency to use force against Black subjects; the “counter bias” perspective predicts lesser force against Blacks, due to officers' concerns about the consequences of using force against racial/ethnic minorities. The implicit-bias perspective also predicts a moderating impact of neighborhood context; specifically, this perspective predicts that the use of greater force against racial/ethnic minorities will disappear in high crime neighborhoods.

Suggested Citation

  • Fridell, Lorie & Lim, Hyeyoung, 2016. "Assessing the racial aspects of police force using the implicit- and counter-bias perspectives," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 36-48.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jcjust:v:44:y:2016:i:c:p:36-48
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2015.12.001
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Marianne Bertrand & Dolly Chugh & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2005. "Implicit Discrimination," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(2), pages 94-98, May.
    2. Bazley, Thomas D. & Lersch, Kim Michelle & Mieczkowski, Thomas, 2007. "Officer force versus suspect resistance: A gendered analysis of patrol officers in an urban police department," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 183-192.
    3. Marianne Bertrand & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2004. "Are Emily and Greg More Employable Than Lakisha and Jamal? A Field Experiment on Labor Market Discrimination," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(4), pages 991-1013, September.
    4. Engel, Robin S. & Johnson, Richard, 2006. "Toward a better understanding of racial and ethnic disparities in search and seizure rates," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 34(6), pages 605-617.
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    Cited by:

    1. Hossein Zare & Danielle R. Gilmore & Khushbu Balsara & Celina Renee Pargas & Rebecca Valek & Andrea N. Ponce & Niloufar Masoudi & Michelle Spencer & Tatiana Y. Warren & Cassandra Crifasi, 2025. "State-by-State Review: The Spread of Law Enforcement Accountability Policies," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-24, August.
    2. Lim, Hyeyoung & Lawton, Brian, 2025. "The impact of officer and supervisor training in police use of force incidents," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    3. Toby Miles-Johnson, 2019. "Policing Diverse People: How Occupational Attitudes and Background Characteristics Shape Police Recruits’ Perceptions," SAGE Open, , vol. 9(3), pages 21582440198, July.
    4. Huff, Jessica, 2021. "Understanding police decisions to arrest: The impact of situational, officer, and neighborhood characteristics on police discretion," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    5. Joon H. Ro & Jae-Eun Namkoong & James M. Leonhardt & Eunsoo Choi, 2025. "Examining the Nuances of Consumer Racial Bias: An Analysis of Positive Consumer Response to Racial Representation on Instagram," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 200(4), pages 773-790, September.
    6. Stansfield, Richard & Aaronson, Ethan & Okulicz-Kozaryn, Adam, 2021. "Police use of firearms: Exploring citizen, officer, and incident characteristics in a statewide sample," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    7. Shjarback, John A. & Pyrooz, David C. & Wolfe, Scott E. & Decker, Scott H., 2017. "De-policing and crime in the wake of Ferguson: Racialized changes in the quantity and quality of policing among Missouri police departments," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 42-52.
    8. Mears, Daniel P. & Craig, Miltonette O. & Stewart, Eric A. & Warren, Patricia Y., 2017. "Thinking fast, not slow: How cognitive biases may contribute to racial disparities in the use of force in police-citizen encounters," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 12-24.
    9. Toby Miles-Johnson & Suzanna Fay, 2022. "“Being Diverse and Being Included, Don’t Go Together in Policing”—Diversity, Inclusion, and Australian Constables," Societies, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-19, June.
    10. Toby Miles-Johnson & Kate Linklater, 2022. "‘Rorting the System’: Police Detectives, Diversity, and Workplace Advantage," Societies, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-20, April.

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