In fact, there's evidence that some of these interventions can worsen problems they try to solve.
 | By Michal Leibowitz Editorial Assistant |
Back in the 1970s, many people believed that if you introduced at-risk or delinquent youth to the harshness of prison life, you'd be able to scare them into getting on the straight and narrow. An Oscar-winning documentary about one such program (which resulted in special congressional hearings) bolstered the idea. |
But there was a problem with "scared straight" programs: Researchers found little evidence that they worked. And by now we have quite a bit of evidence suggesting that trying to scare young people straight actually makes them more likely to commit crimes. |
There's a lesson here, and it's pretty straightforward: Psychological interventions, even those that gain credibility in the halls of government or industry, sometimes do more harm than good. Attention to research evaluating their benefits, or lack thereof, is prudent. |
But it's a point that the journalist Jesse Singal — who's written extensively about issues in social science and the replication crisis — believes hasn't been taken to heart when it comes to a different kind of social intervention: diversity training. |
In a guest essay today, Jesse argues that despite their popularity, there's little evidence that diversity trainings — the kind designed to make organizations more welcoming to traditionally marginalized groups — are actually effective. And like the "scared straight" interventions of the past, there's even evidence that such trainings might worsen the problems they try to solve, in this case by activating participants' pre-existing biases or provoking backlash. |
Instead of trying to spark "a revolutionary re-understanding of race relations," as he puts it, or trying to change hearts and minds, organizations should focus their efforts on the work of diagnosing their specific D.E.I. problems and working toward concrete solutions, he writes. |
"The legwork it takes to actually understand and solve these problems isn't necessarily glamorous," Jesse warns. Taking real steps to solve common problems like, for example, the underrepresentation of people of color in management positions in an organization could take "hundreds of hours of labor." |
That's a big ask of any organization. And perhaps that explains the appeal of the easier route that off-the-shelf diversity trainings seem to offer — regardless of whether they work. |
Here's what we're focusing on today: |
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