A fresh, evidence-based take on police diversity and inclusion training is tackling prejudice at its root, exploring what motivates staff to change their views and prompting open conversations and understanding. A testament to the project’s success, it has inspired thousands of police officers and staff.
The thorny problem of prejudice in policing affects staff wellbeing and undermines public trust. Police forces are trying hard to tackle it within their ranks, but have few research-informed tools to do so.
Reading Professor of Psychology Netta Weinstein has gathered data from police forces to discover what motivates officers to change their views. Armed with the evidence, she worked with Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary to develop the first evidence-based police training programme on inclusion, drawing on behaviour change science. It includes strategies, conversation prompts and education which motivate staff to care about diversity and inclusion in ways that are meaningful to them, helping them to align their values with inclusion.
Reviews from the 3,300 course attendees have been glowing. Almost 90% agreed that the content was engaging and that they’d learned new and useful things; 95.6% felt that trainers had tried hard to understand them; and 98.9% agreed that they were free to talk openly about their true feelings.
Weinstein’s findings fed into the first UK policing national wellbeing report, nationally distributed by the College of Policing. Her research has appeared in high profile international journals, bringing the approach to wider audiences.
“A really engaging and interactive session. Pushed us all to have challenging conversations and promoted discussion. Was non-judgemental and allow us to express opinions.” — Course participant
Project name: Inspiring buy-in towards inclusion in UK policing: Listening and motivational principles put to practice
Team: Netta Weinstein, Maya Al-Khouja, Florencia Santana (Hampshire Constabulary), Nicole Legate (Illinois Institute of Technology)
Partners
- Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary Inclusion Matters team
Funders
- Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary
- University of Reading Rapid Response Scheme