Diversity and forensics: diversity in hiring is not enough. 2007

Roger Koppl
Fairleigh Dickinson University, Madison, NJ 07940, USA. koppl@fdu.edu

The current organization of forensic work may induce biases in forensic analysis (Risinger et al., 2002). Such biases may have a differential impact across groups, creating differential bias. We should reorganize forensic work to reduce this bias. The obvious strategy of hiring ethnically diverse forensic workers will not work. 'Us vs. Them' thinking is an important source of differential bias. The definitions of 'Us' and 'Them' are socially conditioned. The current organization of forensic work induces forensic workers to see the police as 'Us' and suspects of any ethnicity as 'Them'. Thus, differential biases in arrests become differential biases in forensic analysis. I argue that my prior proposal for 'competitive self regulation' (Koppl, 2005) would reduce or eliminate differential bias. Competitive self regulation divides forensic work among several, unrelated parties, and hides extraneous, bias-inducing information from forensic analysts. These measures separate forensic workers from the police, reduce their sense of identification with the police, and hide from them the knowledge of what result the police are looking for. My argument builds on a literature on biases, Us vs. Them thinking, and the role of 'coalitional alliances' (Kurzban et al., 2001) in bias formation.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D010560 Personnel Selection The process of choosing employees for specific types of employment. The concept includes recruitment. Employee Recruitment,Employee Selection,Personnel Recruitment,Recruitment Activities,Activity, Recruitment,Employee Recruitments,Personnel Recruitments,Recruitment Activity,Recruitment, Employee,Recruitment, Personnel,Selection, Employee,Selection, Personnel
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D014481 United States A country in NORTH AMERICA between CANADA and MEXICO.
D044707 Forensic Sciences Disciplines that apply sciences to law. Forensic sciences include a wide range of disciplines, such as FORENSIC TOXICOLOGY; FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGY; FORENSIC MEDICINE; FORENSIC DENTISTRY; and others. Digital Forensics,Forensic Mathematics,Digital Forensic,Forensic Mathematic,Forensic Science,Forensic, Digital,Mathematic, Forensic,Mathematics, Forensic,Science, Forensic
D018864 Cultural Diversity Coexistence of numerous distinct ethnic, racial, religious, or cultural groups within one social unit, organization, or population. (From American Heritage Dictionary, 2d college ed., 1982, p955) Multiculturalism,Pluralism,Cultural Pluralism,Cultural Diversities,Diversities, Cultural,Diversity, Cultural,Multiculturalisms,Pluralism, Cultural,Pluralisms

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