Page 36 - CCCA 243725 Magazine_Winter 2015

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unConsCious BiAs:

A primer For lAWYers

By Karen Sadler

As the legal profession works toward becoming more diverse
and inclusive, there is one thing that lawyers can begin doing
today, as individuals, in the fght for equality—discover and
dismantle your own unconscious biases.

What is unconscious bias? 1. instinct: Since humanity’s earliest days
At its core, unconscious bias is a prefer- living in caves and trees, difference often
ence formed without any reasonable jus- equalled confict. This deeply ingrained
tifcation, which can prevent a person’s fear is not relevant to living in the 21
st
judgement from being balanced. In the century, but many of us still feel the “fght
context of diversity and inclusion, it’s a or fight” response when encountering a
preference or dislike formed toward a person who is different from us.
person or a group of people without any 2. media: Did you know that in Law & Or-
reasonable justifcation. der’s 20 years on the air, 76% of the crimi-
Every single one of us has numerous nals cast in the show were young black
unconscious biases working behind the men? As a viewer, you won’t be conscious-
scenes. They’re instinctual and many of ly calculating and refecting on those stats,
them are necessary for our survival. After but your brain is subconsciously receiving
all, thinking requires a lot of energy. To those messages and building a harmful
help conserve energy for the important de- mental map that will inform your future
cisions we have to make, our brains create thoughts about young black men. When
mental maps that allow us to function on consuming media, start thinking about
autopilot when it comes to smaller, more who is represented and how, as well as
repetitive tasks, like breathing, eating, driv- who is not represented (absence is as pow-
ing to work, and unfortunately, how we erful as presence) and why.
view and categorize other people. These
mental maps work well as long as nothing 3. upbringing: Our brains are very malleable
changes. But when we’re dealing with peo- as children and teenagers. The beliefs of our
ple, with all their differences and complexi- parents, other relatives, caregivers, teachers
ties, the variables are always changing. It’s and friends infuence so much about how
time we start to overwrite our mental map. we view the world and everyone in it even
after we’ve reached adulthood.
Where does unconscious bias come from? 4. Culture: In North America, we tend to
A crucial step in learning how to manage value extroversion; we like our employ-
your own biases is to understand where ees and leaders to be friendly, outgoing,
they come from. There are many sources bold and confdent. In Asia, introversion
of unconscious bias, and we’re infuenced is valued; importance is placed on the
by all of them. Here are the fve most pow- ability to work well with others and proj-
erful sources.

36 CCCA MAgAzInE | WIntEr 2015 HIVEr