Implicit Bias Training

Since March 2017, Mecklenburg County’s Criminal Justice Services and Criminal Justice Advisory Group (CJAG) have been working with New York State Psychiatric Institute (NYSPI) to create a comprehensive Implicit Bias training for criminal justice professionals. This training examines how unconscious or implicit biases can affect an individual’s thought processes and decision making in both subtle and overt ways.

Implicit biases have played a role in the disparities we see in the criminal justice system today.

Module 1 defines implicit bias, the role of schemas and heuristics in structuring our thought processes, and the impact of bias on criminal justice institutions.

Module 2 discusses the influence of implicit biases on existing disparities in the criminal justice system, and ways in which we may begin to understand and address bias.

Module 3 focuses on strategies to reduce implicit biases, with examples of de-biasing techniques that can be applied to your everyday work as a criminal justice professional.

Funding for this training was provided by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s Safety and Justice Challenge.