What
As concerns about police bias continue to affect communities, the psychology of racial bias and interracial distrust will be the focus of various presentations at the American Psychological Association’s 123rd Annual Convention. Presenters will discuss how stereotypes affect people’s assumptions about minority groups, how police and their communities can use knowledge of psychological research to improve race relations and the effect of Barack Obama’s presidency on how Americans talk about race.
Where
Presentations listed will take place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, 255 Front St. West, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Who
Lorraine Greene, PhD, independent practice, “Police Community Relations and Race-based Policing,”opens in new window Symposium 1122, Thursday, Aug. 6, 10-11:50 a.m. EDT, Room 206A North Building
Greene, a former director of behavioral health services to the Nashville Police Department and currently a consultant, will talk about how officers and the community can use psychological research to work together to reduce racial tensions and violence. Greene will discuss how her clinical and community psychology experience and research on the job have led to models where police and citizens train each other, increasing the public’s knowledge of police behavior and officers’ knowledge of community perceptions and beliefs.
Derald Wing Sue, PhD, Teachers College, Columbia University, “Talking Race: Lessons From the Obama Presidency,”opens in new window Symposium 3141, Saturday, Aug. 8, 10-11:50 a.m. EDT, Room 104C North Building
Sue will discuss the impact that the election and re-election of Obama has had on dialogues about race and ethnic relations in the United States. He will focus on his findings of more than 10 years of research and observation of people engaged in difficult conversations on race, racism, whiteness and white privilege in which he discovered that almost all difficult dialogues on race were triggered by racial microaggressions that were often invisible to perpetrators.
John Dovidio, PhD, Yale University, “Bias Without Awareness: Racism Among the Well-Intentioned,” Plenary 3361, Saturday, Aug. 8, 4-4:50 p.m. EDT, Room 716A South Building
Dovidio will talk about how unconscious racial bias among whites could play a role in police shootings as well as hiring decisions and quality health care. He will discuss how simple instructions for framing intergroup relations can help to reduce bias. For example, findings from a study of physicians who are not black and low-income black patients at a family medicine residency training clinic showed that encouraging patients and physicians to work as a team and talk about common goals and responsibilities greatly increased trust when compared to a control group and improved health care outcomes.
Contact
Lorraine Greene can be contacted by email or by phone at (615) 266-4119.
Derald Wing Sue can be contacted by email or by phone at (212) 678-8165.
John Dovidio can be contacted by email or by phone at (860) 742-6870.
The American Psychological Association, in Washington, D.C., is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States. APA's membership includes more than 122,500 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. Through its divisions in 54 subfields of psychology and affiliations with 60 state, territorial and Canadian provincial associations, APA works to advance the creation, communication and application of psychological knowledge to benefit society and improve people's lives.