Lab Assignment: Police Officer's Dilemma (Essay Sample)

Lab Assignment: Police Officer’s Dilemma
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Lab Assignment: Police Officer’s Dilemma
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Describe what is shooter bias and how is it related to stereotypes about African-Americans.
Shooter bias is the speed at which shooter; (normally the police) responds to unarmed white man as compared to the response time that a shooter takes to take down unarmed African American target. This also refers to the speed at which a shooter takes down an armed white man as compared to the response time that a shooter takes to shoot an armed African American. There is a strong belief that African Americans are thugs and are always armed, there is also a belief that African Americans are fast at shooting, it is therefore imperative that African Americans are always armed, therefore the police should always shoot them on sight.
The relationship of shooter bias to stereotypes about African Americans
From the article it is clear that there is a shooter bias related to the stereotypic feelings of the shooter, for example, it is much easier for a white police officer to shoot a black African American whom the police suspects is armed than it is easier for a white man to shoot a fellow white man. In the case of a fellow white man, a white police officer or even a black police office is likely to request him to freeze twice even if he is armed. There is a general bias and gut feelings that armed black African Americans are ruthless therefore the police should shot them on sight.
What individual or situational factors may influence the degree of shooter bias?
There are a number of factors that influences shooter bias, however, the most prevalent factors include: Ethnicity: like in African vs. American or Asian vs. Hispanic; discrimination; Object types gun vs. no gun; Context factors and personal behavior such as stereotypes; modern racism, diversity, prejudice composite, and the personal Need for Structure Scale.
Study 3 showed that shooter bias positively correlated with 1) cultural stereotypes and 2) the with the amount of contact people had with other cultures.
1) There is positive correlation between a shooter biases with cultural stereotypes:
Perhaps the best interpretation for the positive correlation between the shooter bias and cultural stereotypes is the fact that most of our phobia re founded on experiences. The pest relationship between black African American and whites was not a rosy one, therefore it is suffice to say that the stereotypes are more likely to draw upon their past experiences on shootout are react faster, they believe that they should shoot before they are shot.
2) There is positive correlation between a Shooter biases with the amount of contact people had with other cultures. This assumption is explained by the fact that if an individual has along exposure to the other cultures, they tend to develop strong bonds and the more they stay in contact with the people. The more they develop the courage to interact with them, there fore it is less likely for an individual to have problems develop a shooter bias to the people with whom he has had contact with than with...