In last week’s webinar, Kathryn Piper discussed her analysis of 50 research papers and evaluations showing that Differential Response – known in Minnesota’s as Family Assessment (FA) – is dangerous for children. Despite this, Minnesota officials still believe that FA is safe.
Why do people persist in beliefs despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary? A common answer is confirmation bias, which Wikipedia describes as the tendency to interpret information in ways that confirm one’s current beliefs. As this BBC article demonstrates, self-correcting this tendency requires mental exercises that few individuals actually do.
More pragmatically, we have found that managers quickly modify their behavior and belief systems in response to new laws. That is because their livelihoods depend on it. This is why, after years of trying to persuade child welfare leaders to modify FA, we sought reforms through legislation.
To hear this e-brief as well as our in-depth commentary, listen to our podcast here.