The Importance Of Stereotypes In Law Enforcement

Social psychology is defined as the “scientific study of the way in which individuals’ thoughts, feelings and behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presences of others” (lecture, 9/3/14). Understanding the concepts discussed in our social psychology course and then implementing them into everyday life can be extremely beneficial, especially for certain professions outside of the psychology realm. One of these specific professions is law enforcement. Although there are many different levels to our law enforcement system, every police officer is responsible for protecting and maintaining law and order in a fair and unbiased manner. I believe police officers’ abilities to carry out these duties and make decisions on the job could be

Stereotypes are influence by the prejudice or “evaluation and/or feelings towards a group” (lecture, 6/3) that you hold, and they lead to discrimination, which is “differential treatement due to group membership” (lecture, 6/3). Although some stereotypes have been proven to be correct and positive, most are false and are extremely negative. Stereotypes are extremely hard to fight in our society because they can be both implicit and explicit. Explicit stereotypes are those that are more recent and controlled (lecture, 6/3). People who are openly racist towards African Americans have explicit stereotypes. Implicit stereotypes are those that are based off of emotion, early experience and emotion (lecture 6/3). These are especially tricky because we may not be completely aware that they exist in our minds, which means they are extra difficult to change. Stereotypes can also be dangerous because they affect the way we think and behave. For example, they affect our attributions or our “explanations for behavior” (lecture 10/15/14). There are many errors associated with attributions, the ultimate of these errors being stereotype driven attributions. This error involves being “particularly likely to ignore situational information when thinking about negative behaviors from outgroup members” (lecture 10/15/14). This means that when faced with a problem

One of the easiest ways for a person to reduce stereotypical thought is to make an effort to understand minorities. This is done most easily through interacting with groups other than your own, taking time to learn about their ideas and culture, and having an open mind while doing so. Being able to accept any differences that do happen to exist between groups will lead to decreased stereotyping. Being in the presences of those that you hold stereotypes against, and viewing positive existing stereotypes can be very helpful in reducing implicit associations (lecture, 6/3). It is also important for Police Officers to learn how to control their frustration and not displace their aggression. This can specifically be done by learning how to address your anger while on the job, and making sure that you do not take out any frustration you do feel on others, but instead talk through any issues you are having with those