Anger Management courses and Racial Profiling

One of our anger management teachers had a great question for me this morning. I thought I would share the question and response.

Question – I’m hearing a lot of negative feedback from our anger managment clients about the police (racial profiling, harassment, etc) and am wondering if that fits with your impression of the police around here. Since I’m new to Los Angels, I don’t know enough about the area to know how much to believe from the clients. I thought you might have some special insight. It’s kind of tough, because I’ve worked with court mandated clients before, but was more familiar with the “character” of the local police and had a better gauge of what to believe (and what not to believe), and what to expect from the courts.

Thanks,

My Response

As for racial profiling in L.A. I try not to entertain that thread of conversation, although it does come up often in an anger management class. I try to keep the clients focused on things they can control. Many of our clients react in aggression when they can not control a situation, whether its the police, on the job or in there own home. If they feel they need to respond to injustice I to get them to explore ways to act in a pro social manner like calling the watch commander, local news outlet etc. I also recommend our clients look at if the way they respond to the police is based on a perceived reality rather present truth. Often times their dress appearance, location and companions can lend itself to negative encounters with the police.

Shannon Munford M.A. -CEO/President Anger Management Expert

A former teacher for Daybreak also replied.

In my three years of teaching anger management classes for Day Break Counseling I found that there was an overwhelming amount of clients who felt negative about the police and their interactions with them. When allowing them to explain and express their encounters, 8 out of 9 the impression I got was that there was an initial aggressive act from the client that resulted in an aggressive outcome. I am open to the possibility that racial profiling still exists but my personal opinion is that when it comes to the client’s referred by the courts that is not always the case.

I am Hispanic and have teenage children in the neighborhood. And yes, my teen son often gets pulled over by the police. My guess is that he is Hispanic and he attracts attention driving an SUV but his encounters have always been respectful and positive. I doubt it would be the case if he got defensive.

Daybreak Counseling Service
www.daybreakervices.com
http://angermanagementvideo.net/blog