Police Shooting "Expert" With a Union Institute and University Doctorate

I greatly respect our resident Union grads. But not so much love for this guy.

Psychologist Openly Admits He Trains Police Officers to Shoot First and Ask Questions Later

Dr. Lewinski is a 1988 graduate of the Union Institute and University (which he refers to as the Union University and Institute in his bio).

 

Marcus Bachmann, who tries to turn gay people straight, got his psychology degree from the Union Institute. However, there is probably not a school that could have changed his personal beliefs.

 

I'm actually quite interested if our Criminal Justice aficianados had any thoughts on this guy. His work seems to be regarded as pseudoscience according to the American Journal of Psychology but I'm curious if this guy, or theories like his, have found a home anywhere in CJ academia.

 

As far as I know, none of the professors at my college who are experts in law enforcement practices, law, and/or ethics believe in the shoot first philosophy. Most of their consulting work is done with police departments who have use of force and other disciplinary issues. All of my professors have degrees from top 25 or top 20 schools in criminology/criminal justice, sociology, or law. It's disturbing that police departments are paying this guy for training. It's also disturbing that he's being used as an expert witness, but using questionable expert witnesses is nothing new.

I really do take issue with the fact that he designed his own curriculum for his doctorate. I know that offends some people here. I have no problem with people designing their own programs using courses that are already established, but I don't think people should be designing their own curriculum, especially when there is a good chance that the school will not have someone qualified to oversee the design of a highly-specialized area of study. Independent study courses in traditional programs already allow students to study something that is not available as a course.

Law enforcement is not even one of the most dangerous jobs in the country. Truck driving and many construction occupations are more dangerous. The most dangerous part of law enforcement is driving.

New York Times wrote up a long article on him.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/02/us/training-officers-to-shoot-first-and-he-will-answer-questions-later.html

 

It all depends on the context of the situation.

If someone is pointing a gun at you, then you should shoot first and ask questions later. Conversely, if someone has their back to you and if they are holding a gun that is pointed to the ground, shooting them first and asking questions later will land you in prison, if there are independent witnesses present (or if cell phones record the event).

Threat context is everything.

 

I'm guessing you didn't read either of the articles provided.

The NYT article is especially illuminating. The good doctor basically states that when an officer's account of events differs from those of witnesses or video evidence it isn't because s/he is lying but likely because of a memory lapse caused in the heat of the moment.

So, according to this guy, the cop was justified in shooting the unarmed suspect even if the cell phone recording shows the victim wasn't a threat.

Threat response is context specific. But this guy is trying to frame everything in a context where the police are always justified even when it is clear they are not.

That's a scary sort of notion.

 

Yes, he graduated from Union in 1988. To further add to the confusion, neither is correct. When he graduated it was called The Union for Experimenting Colleges and Universities. (Proquest accurately lists it as such.)

His dissertation title: Calm in the face of death: A training program for maximizing performance in crisis situations.

 

He graduated in 1995. His dissertation: Security attachment of children 48 to 60 months of age enrolled in institutionalized day care for the first time from home care.

A person of the same name (including the same middle initial) graduated from CBN University in 1988 with an MA in Counseling. Thesis: Childcare Dilemma. CBN U. is now Regent University. It was and is Pat Robertson's school.

 

There appears to be a (significant) journalistic error in the original post’s referenced article in referring to Lewinski as a psychologist – Lewinski himself does not do so, instead calling himself a “behavioral scientist.” I’m sure the guy is hip enough to know that if you’re not licensed as a psychologist, you cannot call yourself a psychologist.

He does not mention any graduation from Regent University, nor purport to be a psychologist (at least in my brief review of his professed credentials). However, at the time he would have graduated from Union, it was possible to pursue a non-licensure track in psychology. (I served on the committee of one prominent counseling professor who earned his Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology, which is not a licensure field. I also remember a student from Norwich who earned her M.A. in “Depth Psychology,” her rather clever way of naming the program in which she focused on astrology.

In the good old days, we used to joke that it was possible to earn a Union doctorate in basket weaving, as long as it was doctoral level basket weaving. Even then, we advised students to name their degrees with a more general (and marketable) major like, say, “Cultural Anthropology.” I remember meeting one Union learner who was majoring in “Supreme Military Science” – the title for his major in Transcendental Meditation.

It is notable that, back in 1988, Union graduates who were licensed as psychologists earned their licensure under the grandparent clauses of various states based on their master’s degrees. Despite years of trying, Union was never able to attain APA approval, thus when various states’ grandparenting options expired, a lot of Union grads that had pursued a licensure track were screwed and found that they could not sit for the psych boards based on their doctorates.

By the way, at the time he graduated, Union had achieved its RA status – that happened in 1985.

From his organization’s website at WhoWeAre:

From his personal website at About:

Note his wording – “Union University and Institute.” I never heard of the place. I also can't help but notice that he refers to himself as "Doctor..." more times on his web sites than I have (about myself) in the 24 years since I graduated from Union.

 

I'd say he chose his specialty well.

Police Psychology sounds pretty spiffy. It isn't Forensic Psychology. Nope. He doesn't seem to be claiming to be an expert in psychology to help the police he seems to be claiming expertise in the psychology of the police.

I can see why Union was such an attractive place when it was self-designed. The current program offerings don't really have the same "wow" factor as Supreme Military Science.