Cognitive and Affective Precursors to Decisions to use Lethal Force Against Black Suspects: A Virtual Reality Application

IF 2.1 3区社会学 Q1 CRIMINOLOGY & PENOLOGY

Race and Justice Pub Date : 2022-11-22 DOI:10.1177/21533687221127448

John Tawa, Yuanguo Lang, M. Jernigan

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Here we investigated the role of physiological stress on participants' lethal force decisions with Black suspects using a novel virtual reality (VR) paradigm. We examined the conditional and mediational roles of implicit racism and visual attention to Black suspects. For this study, we filmed a series of high-risk suspect-police interactions with a 360° video camera which, when viewed through the VR headset, embeds the participants in these scenarios from the perspective of a police officer. Embedded eye tracking in the VR enabled assessment of both physiological stress (through pupil dilation) and attention (through gaze location). Analysis of these behavioral data with criminal justice majors ( N = 39) revealed a facilitative function of physiological stress for improving accuracy in lethal force decisions, specifically among those with low levels of implicit racism. Findings also indicated that dysregulated attention—characterized by either disorganized or fixated attentional patterns—compromised lethal force decision making. Results are discussed in relation to future applications of VR to inform our understanding of cognitive and affective precursors of poor decision making. Implications include the promise of cognitive-behavioral interventions for mitigating dysregulated attention patterns, ultimately towards the end of reducing unwarranted uses of lethal force against Black men and women.

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决定对黑人嫌疑人使用致命武力的认知和情感前体:虚拟现实应用

在这里，我们使用一种新的虚拟现实（VR）范式研究了生理压力对参与者与黑人嫌疑人的致命武力决策的作用。我们研究了隐性种族主义和对黑人嫌疑人的视觉关注的条件和中介作用。在这项研究中，我们用360°摄像机拍摄了一系列高风险的嫌疑人与警察的互动，当通过VR耳机观看时，从警察的角度将参与者嵌入这些场景中。VR中嵌入的眼动追踪可以评估生理压力（通过瞳孔扩张）和注意力（通过凝视位置）。刑事司法专业学生的这些行为数据分析（N = 39）揭示了生理压力对提高致命武力决策准确性的促进作用，特别是在那些隐性种族主义程度较低的人中。研究结果还表明，以注意力模式紊乱或固定为特征的注意力失调会影响致命武力的决策。研究结果与虚拟现实的未来应用有关，以帮助我们理解决策失误的认知和情感前兆。其影响包括承诺进行认知行为干预，以缓解失调的注意力模式，最终减少对黑人男女不必要的致命武力使用。

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来源期刊

Race and Justice Multiple-

CiteScore

5.50

自引率

19.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： Race and Justice: An International Journal serves as a quarterly forum for the best scholarship on race, ethnicity, and justice. Of particular interest to the journal are policy-oriented papers that examine how race/ethnicity intersects with justice system outcomes across the globe. The journal is also open to research that aims to test or expand theoretical perspectives exploring the intersection of race/ethnicity, class, gender, and justice. The journal is open to scholarship from all disciplinary origins and methodological approaches (qualitative and/or quantitative).Topics of interest to Race and Justice include, but are not limited to, research that focuses on: Legislative enactments, Policing Race and Justice, Courts, Sentencing, Corrections (community-based, institutional, reentry concerns), Juvenile Justice, Drugs, Death penalty, Public opinion research, Hate crime, Colonialism, Victimology, Indigenous justice systems.