What We Talk About When We Talk Empathy: The Power and Limitations of Empathy in the Battle for Justice

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Session Type: Lightning Sessions

Session Capacity: N/A

Hotel: N/A

Room: Franciscan A

Floor: Ballroom Level

In times of extreme political polarization, it might seem strange to question the need for greater empathy. But are there limits to the power of empathy to promote inclusion and redress racial, economic, and other divisions? If so, how might we navigate them in order to maximize support for social justice movements? According to psychologist Paul Bloom, author of the book Against Empathy, fellow-feeling is a poor tool for guiding moral decisions because empathy inherently reflects bias in favor of those like ourselves, and because it focuses our attention disproportionately on the plight of particular individuals at the expense of larger groups. Despite these limitations, we should be concerned if certain professions are at greater risk of losing their ability to feel for fellow humans at all. Studies do show that students in the helping professions—notably the medical profession—may experience decreases in empathic accuracy precisely at the later stages of their education when they begin interacting with live patients, possibly due to desensitization or burnout. Other studies show that people of higher socioeconomic status (SES) more generally—whether measured by highest education level achieved or as assigned randomly at the time of the study—also score lower for empathic accuracy, possibly due to overestimation of the amount of choice or autonomy (as opposed to luck or social networking) involved in attaining high SES or because higher SES tends to translate into decreased dependence on others for help. Importantly, studies also show that empathic accuracy can be learned.
In this session, we will brainstorm and discuss ideas, drawing on interventions for cognitive and implicit bias, stereotype threat, and other contexts, for mitigating the limitations of empathy in clinical legal education while also aiming to counteract systemic exclusion and disempowerment.