Bias is defined as a strong indication of the mind or a preconceived opinion about something or someone.
We all suffer from a brain full of bias. In fact, bias is a natural function of the problem solving mind. In its constant quest to keep us safe, our brain forms judgments about everything it perceives in the world around us as either “good” or “bad”. It categorizes situations and people as “dangerous” or “safe”. It judges everyone it encounters as either friend or foe. This is the natural problem solving function of the human brain.
The Problem
- In its attempt to quickly form judgments about its environment, however, the brain often adopts judgments that someone else suggests to it without further investigation.
- It begins to take its identity from the “likes” and “dislikes” it has formed in the past and is loath to reevaluate any judgment lest it threaten the sense of self it has erected.
- Snap judgments become generalizations that are often inaccurate.
- Subsequent judgments are often based on previous judgments that were inaccurate in the first place. An interrelated architecture is erected that can remain stable only as long as no piece of the foundation is found to be faulty. This is why we rarely “change our mind” about anything we have come to believe.
Social Workers
Social workers are only human. They are trying to keep themselves (and everyone else) safe, and their problem solving minds form biases just like everyone else. Here are some examples of common social worker biases.
- Homeless people often deserve to be homeless.
- Poor people are not as smart as rich people.
- Parents who abuse children are morally depraved.
- Addiction is a choice.
- Black men make bad fathers.
- People in crisis need to be told how to live.
Many social workers consider the bias list above to be an occupational hazard. Most believe they developed their bias on the job. This may, or may not, be true.
The Solution
Everyday Bias: Identifying and Navigating Unconscious Judgments in Our Daily Lives, by Howard J. Ross offers in depth solutions to bias in every-day life.
“If you are human, you are biased,” begins Ross. He goes on to explain how unconscious bias colors our entire view of the world and affects the choices we make. When this bias goes unexamined in social workers, the delicate work they do for clients can be severely damaged.
Everyday Bias is an overall self-assessment guide and intervention plan for personal and organizational use on how to recognize and regulate unconscious bias. “Yes, we are biased,” Ross says, “but we are able to reframe our biases and reprogram our biased responses and lead productive, positive lives that influence others in a positive manner.”
