Erasing Institutional Bias

Chapter Nine

Erasing Retribution Bias

The impact of retribution bias is broad, and it can feel over-whelming to consider what it may mean to erase such an institutional bias. In this chapter, we will be introducing people whose lives have intersected with this bias and we will be sharing with you how they are working to erase it. We’re doing this because retribution bias tells you to steer clear of particular people.

As we explored in the last chapter, retribution bias works by consolidating many of our previously held biases and distilling them into the belief that criminals are threatening and dangerous; they’re certainly not human and they’re most definitely not to be a part of our organizations and workplaces. But when you get close—when ...