Download Unlearning Prejudice

Quick Review of Terms
Stereotypes are usually false generalizations:
assumption that people of shared religious, ethnic,
cultural, or other characteristics are the same (All
aboriginals are alcoholics)
Prejudice is a belief: often based on stereotypes – it
divides groups into categories of inferiority and
superiority (anti-Semitism)
Discrimination acting on your prejudice (a young
black man getting turned down a promotion in
favour a white man)
Unlearning & Ending Prejudice
1. Psychological & Sociological Theories
2. Educational Strategies
3. What we can do NOW
Cognitive Dissonance
The theory was developed by psychologist
Leon Festinger in 1957.
The most favoured theory of belief and
behavioural change.
Definition:
People try to avoid conflicts between what they
think and what they do.
Cognitive Dissonance
 Example: Sam Smith is out with his friends at the
mall. They see two men walking together holding
hands. Sam’s friends yell out at the men, “Fags!”.
Sam then follows suit.
 However, Sam was taking the HSB 4M0 course in
high school and was learning about prejudice &
discrimination in class.
 He was starting to understand that it is wrong to
judge other people based on their differences. Yet,
he still committed an act of Hate speech.
Cognitive Dissonance
 However, this act made Sam very
uncomfortable/upset and he may try to avoid
conflict. He may stop attending his HSB course
thereby avoiding the lecture on prejudice &
discrimination
 In this case, Sam is experiencing dissonance – his
action/behaviour conflicted with a belief.
 What can Sam do to resolve this dissonance?
Cognitive Dissonance to
Cognitive Consistency
 Sam can resolve this conflict by changing his
behaviour.
 Not make hurtful comments, attend class to learn
more about prejudice and discrimination, …
 Once Sam does this, he will reach “cognitive
consistency”, the state in which are are beliefs are
“in sync” with our behaviours and we lead a more
happy and satisfied life.
Inter-group Cooperation
 Term coined by sociologists M. Sherif and
L.J. Harvey
 Conducted a study known as the “Robber’s
Cave” to determine if prejudice can be
unlearned.
Robber’s Cave – Part I
 2 groups of 11 yr old white middle class boys were
segregated at a camp
 They conducted all activities such as swimming,
hiking, canoeing, within their own groups
 Then the groups were brought together to have
athletic competitions
 What was the result?
The Robber’s Cave
 The 2 groups immediately disliked each
other.
 Escalation: fighting occurred on and off the
athletic field, cabin-break-ins, vandalism,
and theft
The Robber’s Cave – Part II
 The researchers tested whether they could get the
boys to unlearn the prejudice that has been created.
 They created a number of emergency situations and
then assigned cooperative inter-group teams to
solve them.
 Result: The boys from both teams had formed many
inter-group friendship – they unlearned their
previous prejudice.
 Problems with this study?
Educational Strategies
 In keeping with the Robber’s Cave
experiment, social psychologist Elliot
Aronson identified similar tensions in
classrooms.
 Classrooms were competitive environments
in which students were struggling with one
another for a chance to gain recognition
Jigsaw Cooperative Learning
 Aronson decided that learning would need to
be restructured in a more cooperative way,
based on mixed teams made up of different
ethnic groups.
 He believed that this would help eliminate
prejudice by maximizing student equality
Jigsaw Cooperative Learning
 Each member of a team becomes an “expert”
on a different section of a particular topic.
 Each group of students must then cooperate
as a team to learn the whole topic.
 He found that within 8 weeks, prejudice was
reduced.
Discussion about Prejudice
 Aboud, Tatum, and Allport all agreed that
children at the age of four, should be taught
about prejudice and discrimination.
 Why?
 According to Piaget’s theory of cognitive
childhood development, this is the age when
children become aware of ethnic differences
What can we do NOW?
 refuse to laugh at racist or sexist jokes
 refuse to see movies, read books, play video games
or participate in actives that promote violence or
discrimination against certain groups
 confront your friends or peers who express
prejudiced or discriminatory beliefs
 confront prejudice in schools by working with a
diverse group of people
Most Importantly
Self-reflect, realise, and understand your
own biases and prejudices – we all have
them!
EDUCATE!!
Helpful Resources
 Pamphlet entitled, “101 Ways To Combat
Prejudice”.
Available for download at:
www.adl./org/prejudice/closethebook.pdf
Kids Help Phone: www.kidshelpphone.ca