TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Amaral, Sofia
AU  - Borker, Girija
AU  - Prakash, Nishith
AU  - Sviatschi, Maria Micaela
        TI  - Debiasing Law Enforcement Officers: Evidence from an Expressive Arts Intervention in India
        PY  - 2026/Oct/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 19005
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/index.php/publications/dp19005
        AB  - Frontline state agents wield broad discretion over citizens’ access to public services, yet whether the attitudes shaping it can be changed among incumbent bureaucrats is largely unknown. Partnering with the Bihar Police, we run a cluster randomized trial across 417 stations and ~2,500 senior officers evaluating a three-day expressive arts intervention grounded in Theatre of the Oppressed to improve police responses to gender-based violence (GBV). Seven months after baseline, treated officers exhibit more favorable GBV attitudes, greater empathy, and stronger legal knowledge. These translate into behavior: in victim audits one year later, treated stations are 15 percentage points less likely to blame victims, dismiss fewer complaints, and provide more referrals, while records show a 41% drop in registration delays and, over a longer horizon, increased citizen GBV reporting. Exploiting transfers, we find suggestive evidence that effects persist as officers relocate and diffuse to untreated colleagues. Junior female officers under treated seniors report lower harassment and anxiety. Attitudes shaping bureaucratic discretion are malleable, and changing how state agents exercise authority can improve service delivery and workplaces.
        KW  - police
KW  - gender-based violence
KW  - state capacity
KW  - bureaucratic discretion
KW  - gender attitudes
KW  - workplace spillovers
        ER  -