1. How can we reduce prejudice and discrimination? Unit 1 – Making sense of other people. Topic 4 - Stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination.

2. Lesson objectives By the end of the lesson you will be able to: Explain prejudice and discrimination based on the studies covered so far. Describe ways of reducing prejudice and discrimination using evidence from the work of Sherif, Aronson, Elliott and Harwood. Suggest practical implications of research into prejudice and discrimination.

3. Key terms. Jigsaw method – The name given to the technique used by Aronson to reduce prejudice within groups of mixed – race students. Expert groups – Another name for the jigsaw method. It is called expert groups because each member of the group becomes an expert on a particular topic and they share their knowledge with the rest of the group. Contact – Seeing, speaking or writing to someone. Empathy – Being able to put yourself in someone elses position psychologically and understand how that person is feeling.

4. Starter Quick recap – What were the studies by Adorno, Tajfel and Sherif about? Can you link the experimenter with the statement? People are prejudice because of personality type. People are prejudice because of competition between groups in society. People are prejudiced because they believe their in groups are superior to their out groups.

5. Starter Quick recap – What were the studies by Adorno, Tajfel and Sherif about? Can you link the experimenter with the statement? People are prejudice because of personality type. People are prejudice because of competition between groups in society. People are prejudiced because they believe their in groups are superior to their out groups.

6. Explanations of prejudice and discrimination. We have looked at 3 explanations of prejudice and discrimination; Adorno believes you are likely to be prejudiced if you are brought up by strict, critical parents and have an authoritarian personality. Sherif believes you are likely to be prejudiced if you are in competition with another group for a scare resource. Tajfel believes you are likely to be prejudiced because you favour your in groups over your out groups and believe your in groups to be superior.

7. Reducing prejudice and discrimination. Once Sherif had created prejudice between the 2 groups, his next aim was to see if he could get the boys to become friends. He attempted this using joint activities i.e. trips, meals out etc. However, this didn’t work and they continued to attack each other. He then set up a situation where their truck was stuck in the mud and needed pulling out or they miss dinner. This was successful because the task could not be completed without all the boys helping. Sherif concluded that cooperation on an important task is one way of reducing prejudice.

8. Evidence from Aronson (2000) Aronson was given the task of reducing prejudice between black and white students in a school in Texas. He developed a technique called the jigsaw methods (expert groups). This involved mixed race groups each taking responsibility for a part of the lesson. They became experts on one aspect and then pass on their knowledge to the group. This technique proved successful because each student was responsible for their own learning as well as others. Aronson interviewed the students afterwards and found that this method: Enhanced their self esteem. Increased their liking of their classmates. Improved their perceptions of the other racial group within the class.

9. Evaluation + implications The jigsaw method led to prejudice between the racial groups being reduced.  However the positive perceptions of the other racial groups were not generalised outside the classroom. Aronson’s work suggests that within schools and workplaces prejudice could be reduced, but this may not generalise to other settings.

10. Elliot (1970) Aim – To teach her class what it felt like to be victims of discrimination. Method – Elliott told her class the following: Blue-eyed children are smarter than those with brown eyes. Blue-eyed children are the best people in the room. Brown-eyed children cannot play with blue-eyed children because they are not as good. Brown-eyed children cannot use the drinking fountain. Results: The blue-eyed children became vicious and arrogant whereas the brown-eyed became angry and sad. The following day Elliott reversed the experiment and found the same with the brown-eyed children. Conclusion – by getting children to experience first-hand what it felt like to be victims of prejudice and discrimination, these children would grow up being more tolerant towards others.

11. Evaluation + implications  Could be considered unethical as the children suffered from psychological stress. However she contacted the students 9 years later, they were more tolerant and showed more empathy towards others. Elliott’s method of creating empathy within her children worked, but you need children to experience this at an early age.

12. Harwood (2003) Aim – to investigate children view of the elderly. Method – asked children and their grandparents about their relationships. The children were also questioner about their views of elderly people in general. Results – children who had regular contact with grandparents held positive views about the elderly. Conclusion – contact with grandparents is a good predictor of a child’s attitude towards the elderly.

13. Evaluation + implications  Information gathered from interviews is not always reliable.  There are children who don’t have regular contact with grandparents but still have positive attitudes towards the elderly. Harwood’s research illustrates the importance of regular contact between children and grandparents