NCJ Number
161266
Journal
Police Studies Volume: 18 Issue: 1 Dated: (Spring 1995) Pages: 71-83
Date Published
1995
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This article critiques the methods used in police cultural diversity training and suggests a number of principles and strategies for conducting this training.
Abstract
The training principles proposed for police cultural diversity training encourage learning as a process rather than a static approach to learning. The training principles discussed encourage an atmosphere that helps officers to begin a process of understanding and appreciating diversity and that encourages behavioral changes rather than attitudinal adjustments. The training should promote the development of a set of process- oriented skills that the officers can use to assess his/her level of cultural competence and to increase this level through independent actions. Also, the training should be designed so as not to encourage the promotion of stereotypes, and the training should promote the perspective that being different does not mean the person is deficient in intelligence or morality. Further, the training should focus on the issues of the training participants with a question-and-answer period as part of the training. The training should be linked to other relevant issues faced by law enforcement officers. These issues might include community policing, safety, legal liability, and law enforcement effectiveness. Remaining principles are to discuss issues that promote the development of new insight for participants and to encourage the analysis of the agency's capacity for being culturally competent. 22 references