Guardians of Democracy or Racists? Experimental Evidence of Xenophobia among Swedish Police Students

Last registered on January 03, 2023

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Guardians of Democracy or Racists? Experimental Evidence of Xenophobia among Swedish Police Students
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0010621
Initial registration date
December 12, 2022

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
January 03, 2023, 4:03 PM EST

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
Stockholm University

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
Södertörn University
PI Affiliation
Stockholm University

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2019-08-15
End date
2023-09-01
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
The police maintain the state's monopoly of legitimate force and much of their authority rests on them acting as the guardians of democracy. If the police abuse their power by expressing xenophobic views, they risk eroding the public's trust. Higher education is often seen as a tool to reduce prejudice, suggesting that an educated police force should result in more tolerant police officers. At the same time, the education system socializes students into an existing police culture which may counteract this effect–if the culture contains xenophobic tendencies.

This project examines the causal impact of integrating police students with different racial stereotypes on the students’ subsequent stereotypes, attitudes, and academic performance. The impact will be assessed by randomly assigning police students at the police academy to study partners based on their initial racial stereotypes. Because the police force is a traditionally male-dominated environment, we will pay special attention to student gender.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Madestam, Jenny, Andreas Madestam and Alexander Näsström. 2023. "Guardians of Democracy or Racists? Experimental Evidence of Xenophobia among Swedish Police Students." AEA RCT Registry. January 03. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.10621-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2019-08-15
Intervention End Date
2023-06-15

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Racial prejudice (measured via Implicit Association Tests), explicit attitudes, academic performance.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The impact will be assessed by randomly assigning police students at the police academy to study partners based on their initial racial stereotypes. Before the start of the program, students’ racial stereotypes are surveyed using an Implicit Association Test. Based on the outcome of the test, students are randomly assigned to study groups where a majority of the other students are either more or less prejudiced against foreigners. To assess the importance of student gender, study group composition is also stratified by gender.

Student outcomes will be evaluated throughout the 2.5-year (5 semester) program.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer.
Randomization Unit
The randomization is conducted at the individual level, stratified by student cohort, class, and gender.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
N/A
Sample size: planned number of observations
412 police academy students.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
207 students are assigned to study groups where the majority is less prejudiced against foreigners and 205 students are assigned to groups where the majority is more prejudiced against foreigners. Within the less prejudiced groups, 137 (70) students belong to the majority (minority) and within the more prejudiced groups, 137 (68) students belong to the majority (minority).
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Regionala Etikprövningsnämnden Stockholm (Regional Ethical Review Board, Stockholm)
IRB Approval Date
2018-12-13
IRB Approval Number
2018/5:11

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials