Training Our Protectors
  • Home
  • Site Contents
    • Index of all subtopics
  • Introduction
  • Stress Effects on Police
    • Papers: Stress Effects on Police
  • Understanding Violence
    • A Complex Matrix
    • Nature-Nurture Interactions>
      • Papers
    • Child abuse and neglect>
      • Papers
      • Papers: Corporal punishment effects
    • Effects of Trauma and Stress>
      • Papers
    • Powder-keg formula>
      • Papers: Early Signs
    • The Violent Brain>
      • Brain Injury and Damage>
        • Papers
      • Genes and temperament>
        • Papers
      • Neurohormonal imbalances>
        • Papers
    • Intimate violence and abuse>
      • Papers
    • Substance Abuse>
      • Papers
      • Papers
    • Psychopaths and APD>
      • Papers
    • Parallels of collective violence and war zones>
      • Papers
  • Abuse of Power
    • Authoritarians>
      • Papers
    • Going backward: A trend toward authoritarianism>
      • Papers
    • "Stand Your Ground">
      • Papers
    • Prosecutor's Certainty>
      • Papers
    • Innocents swept up in frenzy >
      • Papers
    • He’s just "faking it” >
      • Papers
    • Punitive approach>
      • Papers
    • Police Brutality>
      • Papers
      • Articles: Tasers and Pepper Spray
      • SWAT Overkill-Warrior Cops
      • Militarization
      • Stop and Frisk
      • Blog and News Posts: Police Abuse
    • Racial Profiling
    • A Global Crisis>
      • Global Reports
    • Locked up and restrained>
      • Papers
      • News and blog posts
    • Torture>
      • Papers
      • News and blog posts
      • Links
    • Human Rights Abuses>
      • Reports
      • Links
      • New Page
    • Governments Mistreating Citizens>
      • Papers
    • Civil liberties>
      • Links
      • Papers
    • "War on Terror" Errors and Effects>
      • Torture Debates
      • Bush Cheney Policies
      • Overreaction to 9/11
      • New Page
      • New Page
    • Systemic Corruption>
      • Papers
  • Juvenile "Injustice"
    • What are we doing to our children?
    • News around the world
    • News from U.S.
    • Links
  • Prison Nation
    • Links
    • Articles: Overview Issues
    • Mass Incarceration>
      • Papers
    • Solitary confinement
    • Supermax>
      • Articles
    • Sentencing Discrepancies>
      • Papers
    • Mandatory Minimum Sentencing
    • Three Strikes
    • The New Chain Gangs
    • Private For-Profit Prisons: Corporate welfare>
      • Links
      • Papers
      • Articles
    • Mentally ill in prison>
      • Papers and articles
    • Inside Rape>
      • Papers
    • Effects on Families and Children>
      • Papers
  • Neuroscience of law and justice
    • Fairness and Reciprocity>
      • Papers and Articles
      • Links
    • Diversity of Human Nature>
      • Papers
    • Memory>
      • How memory is reconstructed
      • Eyewitness fallibility
      • The Line-up
      • Academic Papers on Memory
    • False Confession
    • Misperception and misjudgment>
      • Papers
    • Micro-expressions>
      • Papers
    • Volition>
      • Assumptions about personal agency and self-control>
        • Papers
      • Temporary impulsive behavior
    • Prejudice and Discrimination>
      • Papers
    • Unrecognized extenuating circumstances
  • Social psychology of justice
    • Values and Attitudes>
      • Papers
    • Groupthink>
      • Papers
    • System Justification>
      • Papers
    • Obedience, Compliance, Conformity>
      • Papers
    • Denial and Projection>
      • Papers and Articles
    • Whistleblowers as Traitors>
      • Papers
    • Revisiting Zimbardo
    • Seminal Studies
    • Loyalty and Collusion>
      • Papers
    • Search for belonging: gangs and mercenaries>
      • Papers
    • Situational social roles>
      • Papers
  • Debating Approaches
    • Punishment vs. prevention>
      • Papers
      • Links
    • Gun control and Common Sense>
      • Papers
      • Links
    • Drug treatment or harsh incarceration>
      • Papers
      • Links
  • Ineffective and Outdated Methods
    • Coercive Interrogation and leading questions>
      • Papers
    • Myths About Psychological Profiling>
      • Papers
    • Polygraph>
      • Papers
    • Tough Love and Zero Tolerance>
      • Papers
    • Bounties and Informants>
      • Papers
    • Boot camps>
      • Papers
    • The "Bad Seed" view>
      • Papers
  • Economic and Political Issues
    • Privatization: mercenary and contract security>
      • Papers
    • Inadequate training and monitoring >
      • Papers
    • Mislabeling
    • Corruption: A Quiet Violence
    • War on Poor: Draconian Policies
    • Dickens and Les Miz
  • A Broad Cultural Background
  • Solutions
    • Prevention>
      • Links
      • Papers
    • Social Investment>
      • Links
      • Papers
    • Restorative Justice>
      • Links
      • Papers
    • Helping Kids-at-Risk>
      • Links
    • Juvenile Justice alternatives>
      • Papers
      • Links
    • Empathy and Ethics>
      • Papers
    • Conflict resolution>
      • Links
      • Papers
    • Community-based programs>
      • Links
    • Never Assume>
      • Links
      • Papers
    • Offset Damage>
      • Links
    • Healing the Hurt>
      • Links
      • Papers
    • Global Approaches
    • Helping Law Enforcement Professionals>
      • Coping with danger and high-stress situations
      • Triage and Crowd Control
      • Links
      • Papers
    • Major Policy Reforms>
      • Papers
  • Resources
    • Discussion of Methods
    • Exercises and Surveys
    • Authoritarian Questionnaire
    • Values Questionnaire
    • Civil Liberties Questionnaire
  • A Look at History
    • A History of Punishment
    • Inhumane incarceration, detention>
      • Papers
    • Chain gangs, debtor’s prison, the poorhouse>
      • Papers
    • Gulags, Political prisoners>
      • Papers
    • Internment>
      • Papers
  • Social Advances slideshow
  • Statistics
    • General Indicators
    • Stats: Prison Population
    • Stats: Gun Violence
    • Stats: Child abuse
    • Stats: Substance-abuse related violence
  • Recommendations
    • Organizations and Advocates
    • Books
    • Video Lectures
    • TV Shows
    • Feature Films
    • Documentaries
    • Other Media
    • Exhibits
  • Index of all Links
  • Index of all paper topics

Applying emerging knowledge of human nature, development and behavior to the Justice System.

What 21st-Century law enforcement professionals should know about human behavior and responses.


What skills are needed to offset abuse of power and to effectively serve and protect the citizenry?

Social psychology and social neuroscience research findings on groupthink should be incorporated into professional and occupational training programs, particularly for those who end up positions of power--having authorization to control the behavior and physical mobility of other people. 

Occupations such as police officers, wardens, prison guards, secret service interrogators, nursing home or mental hospital orderlies, soldiers, military officers and strategists are all at increased risk for overreacting to perceived misbehavior of their charges. 

The Abu Grahib and Guantanamo Bay prison torture and abuse scandals are mere examples of countless stories chronicling the mistreatment of prison inmates and those in institutions around the U.S. and the world. 

The killing of Trayvon Martin gives new urgency to multiple questions about the effects of laws that support such acts of injustice. Issues to explore include: misperception of threat, impaired judgment, implicit bias, impulse control and obsessive disorders; as well as the group bias, denialism and system justification demonstrated by the responses of officials.