Reverse Deterrence in Racial Profiling: Increased Transgressions by the Non-Profiled Group
Goldman School of Public Policy Working Paper No. GSPP09-003
26 Pages Posted: 25 Sep 2009 Last revised: 2 Oct 2009
Date Written: September 25, 2009
Abstract
A controlled experiment tested the possibility that racial profiling – disproportionate scrutiny of minorities by sanctioned authorities – would have “reverse deterrent” effects on the illicit behavior of members of non-profiled groups (e.g., Whites). Research participants given a task involving extremely difficult anagrams were given the opportunity to cheat. White participants randomly assigned to a condition in which two Black confederates were obtrusively singled out for scrutiny by the study administrator cheated more than Whites in a White-profiling condition and a no-profiling control condition, and more than Black participants in all three conditions. Black participants cheated at comparable levels across the three experimental conditions. The effect of the profiling was therefore a net increase in cheating.
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