Implicit bias within public reporting: a virtual reality experiment examining “suspicious” activity

Campaigns like that of the Department of Homeland Security’s “See Something, Say Something” are intended to increase public reporting of “terrorism-related behaviors.” Yet given prior research on whom the general public considers to be a terrorist, it is likely these types of programs are instead af...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal: Carson, Jennifer V. (Autor)
Otros Autores: Politte, Hailey
Tipo de documento: Electrónico Artículo
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2021
En: Crime & delinquency
Año: 2021, Volumen: 67, Número: 12, Páginas: 2135-2162
Acceso en línea: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
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Sumario:Campaigns like that of the Department of Homeland Security’s “See Something, Say Something” are intended to increase public reporting of “terrorism-related behaviors.” Yet given prior research on whom the general public considers to be a terrorist, it is likely these types of programs are instead affected by pejorative automatic associations. With this in mind, we inquire: Does implicit bias affect public reporting within a suspicious activity scenario? Through a randomized experiment using virtual reality technology, we find evidence of such bias, as manifested in whether participants indicated they would call the police when presented with a Middle Eastern male. We conclude effective counterterrorism programming should involve an awareness campaign component detailing what terrorism truly looks like in the United States.
ISSN:1552-387X
DOI:10.1177/0011128720981897