Just Mercy

SPOILER ALERT. If you have not watched Just Mercy, I need you to leave this post and go spend the next two hours watching (in my opinion) one of the most influential movies of our time. There are so many sites you can access it for free. We just watched it on Amazon Prime last night, $0.00. I'm serious. Leave. I will spoil the end of the movie for you in this post. That is not a secret. Here is your last spoiler alert! Come back once you've embraced every scene and you're ready to talk about it.

Okay, hopefully everybody still here has watched the movie and I don't need to summarize what happened. But just in case, Just Mercy is a film released in 2019, it tells the true story of Walter McMillian, who, with the help of young defense attorney Bryan Stevenson, appeals his murder conviction. This movie exposes the frightening lack of evidence required to put Walter McMillian on death row. Why? Well, the movie paints a clear picture of an African American man who committed adultery with a white woman. For this he was charged with a crime he did not commit. He was found guilty, by an all white jury, of a murder that occurred while he was miles away with dozens of witnesses. The movie goes on to tell the story of how a young African American lawyer from Harvard fights the system to achieve justice.

That's all you get for a summary. Go watch the movie.

So why am I writing about this heart-wrenching story in a blog about becoming a behavior analyst? Well that movie ended and this is what I told my fiancé "I am so happy that he was released. I am so happy he gets to go home to his family. But then I look at how happy he is and I'm so angry that he has to be this happy for his freedom. He was an innocent man, locked away on death row for years. Now he is thanking the system for not letting him die in prison. I further understand why people are walking in the streets."

This movie showed me racism in a way I think I subconsciously, always knew existed. But, watching the story play out piece by piece, I found myself getting so angry! Why won't someone do something! How is this going to happen. How can this community not see that this is wrong. Then I see him crying happy tears, so emotional about going home to his family. As happy as I was for a great ending. I was more furious with the system than I've ever been.

"I further understand why people are walking in the streets."

So as a future behavior analyst, it is not our job to sit and be angry all day. It is our duty to find socially significant problems impacting the world and create behavior change. Racial bias is the ultimate behavior change that society is working toward in the present moment. I think that is a pretty clear statement and I shouldn't have to defend it. But if I do, check out Data from the Department of Justice (2001), where it clearly shows that "Black suspects are approximately five times more likely than White suspects, per capita, to die at the hands of a police officer."

I put on my behavior analyst hat and started to brainstorm strategies that could be effective in the extinction of racial bias.

*Disclaimer, I am not yet a behavior analyst. I have not tested any of these strategies. This is simply a brainstorming session for strategies that may or may not be effective. I would love more research on the topic, but at the moment, it doesn't exist. I expect that to change in the next few years as this has become one of the most socially significant issues in today's society.*

I found a list of strategies used in teaching health and fitness in the following article Review of Sports Performance Research with Youth, Collegiate, and Elite Athletes by James K. Luiselli and Kathryn E. Woods and Derek D. The authors state that “As for intervention, positive reinforcement, goal setting, modeling, and graphic feedback have been effective with athletes of all ages, at different skill levels, and in many sports.” (Luiselli, Woods, & Reed, 2011).

So what in the world does that have to do with racial bias? Well these are strategies often used in our line of work. I would love to see how these generic strategies could be applied to the issue at hand.

1. Positive Reinforcement

In the article, Across the thin blue line: Police officers and racial bias in the decision to shoot, a clear correlation was shown between officers with more training and expertise and less racial bias in situations of police shootings. This leads me to believe that as a system, we could promote less racial bias in these situations by providing officers with ongoing training opportunities. Not just requiring these trainings occasionally, but providing positive reinforcement in some way for those who choose to attend. The article showed that officers receive a great deal of training throughout the academy. But when they attended this study, the decrease in racial bias at the end of day one was eliminated by the start of day two. "But the reemergence of bias in Round 1 of Day 2 suggests more extensive training is necessary if participants are to more permanently overcome bias in behavioral responses". (Correll et al., 2007).

Thinking about this in areas outside of law enforcement, as a society we could provide positive reinforcement for all people who attend sensitivity training for racial bias. The article showed that police were just as likely to shoot as community members were. This means we have work to do; not just in our police force, but in our community as a whole. Think about it, what if every employer had a grant of some sort, where they could provide monetary compensation for employees who attended sensitivity trainings. Maybe employers could offer a paid day off work for employees choosing to attend a sensitivity training. The opportunities are endless, but they cannot be a one time expense. The journey toward the end of racial bias needs to be ongoing and trained at least every 12 weeks in order to promote maintenance and generalization into our society.

The journey toward the end of racial bias needs to be ongoing and trained at least every 12 weeks in order to promote maintenance and generalization into our society.

2. Goal Setting

Setting goals is a strategy shown to be effective in all areas of life. Need to lose a few pounds? Set a goal. Want to cut back on your spending? Set a goal. Want to decrease police brutality cases? Set a goal. Want to increase your exposure with minority populations? Set a goal.

What I mean by this is, we can change our own behaviors simply by setting goals. Write it down and place it where you will see it every day. Take data either on paper or in your mind of how you are achieving this goal. For example, I know that I grew up in a town of 1,000 people where almost everyone looked the same as I do. I acknowledge the underlying bias this may cause. As a goal, I want to find two events every year where I am exposed to cultures and communities other than my own. This is a small goal, but if everyone created a small goal, think of the difference we could make in our society?

3. Modeling

In behavior analysis we often use modeling as a tool to increase skill acquisition. Could we use modeling to show how situations should be effectively handled? Within the police force, customer service, or simply how to treat ones' neighbor. Individuals can model for each other within society, but within the work place, this is where those moments of training come into play. Modeling situations of racial bias and solutions to the problem is a way to open up this topic for discussion instead of sweeping it under the rug.

4. Graphic Feedback

When all else fails, I am a firm believer that the data talks. Posting visual prompts and graphic displays can have a lasting impact on a society. If an officer walks by their locker each day and sees the number of patrol stops they have made and the percentages of those stops between minorities and caucasians, it may prompt them to take a second look at why they stopped an individual and how they responded when they did. Who knows? I don't have the data to support that statement, I just feel that visual cues can have real impacts on our behavior.

I feel like these visual cues could then be directed into society. In fact, they kind of already are. I can look across the street and see signs in windows stating "Black Lives Matter," "No Justice, No Peace," and "Stop the Violence". These are all visual cues for the neighborhood to see, we need to make a change.

I'm struggling finding a way to end this post. The reason being, this post could go on for hours. There is so much more to learn. So much more research needs to be done. I did however take the time to read the article Across the thin blue line: Police officers and racial bias in the decision to shoot.

I am not going to summarize the article because it would add at least 15 minutes onto this read. Here are some key points. This study showed a clear bias for police when shooting a black suspect compared to a white suspect. This bias however, is no more than community members when both groups were tested using the same simulation. The quickness to pull the trigger was diminished when the officers had more experience and training. Officers who worked in areas with high rates of violent crime and high proportions of minority population, showed the most racial bias within these studies. I could go on and on. This study showed a need for a change. Everything we have seen within the last month has shown a need for a change. Till this day, there is a lack of research stating how to effectively change society as a whole.

Correll, J., Park, B., Judd, C. M., Wittenbrink, B., Sadler, M. S., & Keesee, T. (2007). Across the thin blue line: Police officers and racial bias in the decision to shoot. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92(6), 1006-1023. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.92.6.1006

Luiselli, J. K., Woods, K. E., & Reed, D. D. (2011). Review Of Sports Performance Research With Youth, Collegiate, And Elite Athletes. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 44(4), 999-1002. doi:10.1901/jaba.2011.44-999