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A national leader whose research is focused on reducing policing inequities

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This profile can be shared with students to enhance the visibility of psychologists of diverse backgrounds. As an additional activity, students can be asked to conduct research to learn more about the psychologist and their work. An alternative assignment could be to ask students to find other psychologists of diverse backgrounds whose work falls into this content pillar. Keywords highlight how psychological scientists study concepts within and across pillars.

Background

Dr. Goffopens in new window is the cofounder and chief executive officer of the Center for Policing Equity, which focuses on reducing burdensome and inequitable policing. He is also a professor of African-American Studies and Psychology at Yale University. Dr. Goff served as a panelist for President Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing and he has won two APA early career awards, the Association for Psychological Science Rising Star award, and the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executive’s Lloyd G. Sealy Award, among many others.

Contributions

Dr. Goff’s research examines the science of racial bias, and in particular the relationship between race and policing in the United States. He is a national leader in the science of racial bias by pioneering scientific experiments that exposed how our minds learn to associate Blackness and crime implicitly—often with deadly consequences.

Notable publications

Goff, P. A. (2016). Identity traps: How to think about race & policing. Behavioral Science & Policy, 2(2), 10–22. https://doi.org/10.1353/bsp.2016.0012opens in new window

Kahn, K. B., Goff, P. A., Lee, J. K., & Motamed, D. (2016). Protecting whiteness: White phenotypic racial stereotypicality reduces police use of force. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 7(5), 403–411. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550616633505opens in new window

Swencionis, J. K., & Goff, P. A. (2017). The psychological science of racial bias and policing. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 23(4), 398–409. https://doi.org/10.1037/law0000130opens in new window

Keywords

Race, Social, Bias, Racism


The development of resources to broaden diversity and representation in the teaching of high school psychology resources is an APA Committee of Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools initiative supported by funding from the American Psychological Foundation David and Carol Myers Fund. This resource was developed by Eric Castro, Shawn C.T. Jones, PhD, Allyn Olsen, and Catherine Sanderson, PhD.

Date created: August 2023