Racial inequity in criminal justice involves three distinct covert mechanisms, not bias alone

Evidence

The decisions and behavior stemming from implicit biases are undoubtedly critically important—but our evaluation of the social science research and our work on the ground with stakeholders in the CJS suggest that bias does not tell the full story. Rather, while bias is a part of the story, three intersecting phenomena come together at the crucial decision points and interactions in the criminal justice process: (1) implicit bias—the automatic association of stereotypes and attitudes toward particular groups (Banaji & Greenwald, 2013), (2) racial anxiety—the concerns people often experience prior to and during cross-group interactions (Tropp & Page-Gould, 2014), and (3) stereotype threat—the fear of confirming a negative stereotype about one’s group (Steele, 2010). — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law, 1356

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clearly distinguishes implicit bias from racial anxiety from stereotype threat as three separately operating forces.
• XREF: Stereotype threat connects to Steele’s original work and to Claude Steele scholarship the reader may know.