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doi: 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1985.tb01126.xpmid: N/A
Many changes in American race relations have occurred in the three decades since the Brown v. Board of Education decision. Some of these changes are related to school desegregation and have been extensively studied—e.g., changes in racial attitudes among both blacks and whites, and changes in black self‐esteem and achievement‐test performance. In contrast, relatively little is known about the long‐term effects of school desegregation on assimilation—full and equal participation of blacks in the social, economic, and political life of the society. When school desegregation is viewed in the context of the long‐term functions of education, it seems important for researchers and policy makers to ask whether it promotes the social integration of blacks and whites in adult life and enhances the career attainments of blacks. These important issues have recently begun to receive empirical research attention. This article reviews recent research on the long‐term effects of school desegregation on black assimilation, emphasizing evidence from several national surveys. Implications for social policy, intergroup relations, and interracial equity are discussed.
doi: 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1985.tb01127.xpmid: N/A
Data from 5284 fifth‐grade students and 886 teachers in 94 elementary schools are used to examine two aspects of the prevalence and effects of resegregation in desegregated schools. First we explore teacher and school characteristics that affect how teachers organize opportunities for intergroup contact and academic learning in their classrooms. Results suggest that positive attitudes toward integration influence teachers' selection of grouping practices that promote student interaction, such as active learning and equal‐status programs. Negative attitudes toward integration, or teachers' beliefs in separate education for blacks and whites, promote their use of less flexible, resegregative practices, such as tracking and within‐class grouping. Next, with data from teachers and students, we investigate whether different classroom organizations influence black and white students' achievement and behavior. Multiple regression analyses show that, with other important student, teacher, and classroom structures controlled, less resegregative classroom structures are more advantageous for black students' achievement. There is higher black achievement in classrooms using equal‐status programs, cooperative activities, or flexible tracking.
doi: 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1985.tb01128.xpmid: N/A
This paper reviews research on instructional methods designed to operationalize the principal elements of Allport's (1954) contact theory of intergroup relations. These cooperative learning methods employ ethnically mixed learning groups, who study material presented by the teacher and are rewarded based on the learning of the group as a whole. Field experimental research on these methods in desegregated elementary and secondary schools has found relatively consistent positive effects on intergroup relations, as well as on the achievement of minority and majority students. The implications of this research for contact theory and for instruction in desegregated classrooms are discussed in light of the research evidence.
Miller, Norman; Brewer, Marilynn B.; Edwards, Keith
doi: 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1985.tb01129.xpmid: N/A
Several cooperative heterogeneous team‐learning interventions have been developed to promote improved intergroup relations in desegregated school settings. Despite their positive effects, little or no evidence demonstrates any generalization to new children or to children outside the classroom setting. Furthermore, social‐categorization theory suggests that some procedural aspects of these interventions interfere with these intended benefits. Data from an experimental laboratory paradigm structurally paralleling these small‐group cooperative‐learning interventions, and testing hypotheses derived from social‐categorization theory show that a generalized increase in outgroup acceptance will be produced by (a) an interpersonal as opposed to a task orientation toward team members, and (b) the assignment of persons to teams on the basis of their unique personal attributes rather than attributes that explicitly exemplify their category.
Rothbart, Myron; John, Oliver P.
doi: 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1985.tb01130.xpmid: N/A
The effects of intergroup contact on stereotypic beliefs, it is argued, depend upon (1) the potential susceptibility of those beliefs to disconfirming information and the degree to which the contact setting “allows” for disconfirming events, and (2) the degree to which disconfirming events are generalized from specific group members to the group as a whole. To account for the generalization of attributes from a sample to a population, we present a cognitive‐processing model. The model assumes that impressions of groups are most heavily influenced by the attributes of those members most strongly associated with the group label. In order for group stereotypes to change, then, disconfirming information must be associated with the group labels. However, a number of powerful cognitive processes work against this association. As a consequence, we predict that stereotype change will be relatively rare under “normal” circumstances but may occur when disconfirming information is encountered under circumstances that activate the group label (e.g., when disconfirming attributes are associated with otherwise typical group members).
doi: 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1985.tb01131.xpmid: N/A
This study evaluates a cognitive intervention aimed at improving relations between ethnic groups in general, and between Israelis and Egyptians in particular. The intervention comprised a specially designed booklet about Egypt for Israeli tourists, given to them before their visit to that country. The intervention group included 352 Israeli tourists; 131 other Israeli tourists were not exposed to the booklet. Both groups toured Egypt, and both groups were given before‐and‐after questionnaires measuring interethnic attitudes. The measures revealed changes as a result of the tour itself and additional changes related to the booklet. The results are discussed regarding their contribution to interethnic attitude change.
Weigel, Russell H.; Howes, Paul W.
doi: 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1985.tb01132.xpmid: N/A
Research on “symbolic racism” has underscored an important paradox in racial attitudes: whites' rejection of racial injustice, in principle, has developed without diminishing resistance to the social policies designed to correct the injustice. Yet despite the currency of symbolic racism in contemporary research on racial attitudes, questions about the meaning of the concept remain unanswered. The results of two investigations reported in this paper indicate that (a) the conceptual and empirical distinctions between symbolic racism and “old‐fashioned” prejudice have been exaggerated, and (b) symbolic racism may be best understood as one symptom of generalized tendencies to derogate out‐groups—tendencies associated with a configuration of personal attributes that reflect commitments to conservative sociopolitical values and conventional standards of conduct. These findings are discussed in reference to the persistence of racial prejudice, as well as its implications regarding exposure to and the effects of interracial contact.
Brigham, John C.; Malpass, Roy S.
doi: 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1985.tb01133.xpmid: N/A
Failing to recognize someone or misidentifying someone can have important personal and social consequences. The perceiver may suffer feelings of embarrassment or stupidity. The target may feel insulted, stereotyped, or in extreme cases may be falsely identified as a criminal. If the perceiver and the target are of different ethnic groups, misidentification can increase intergroup hostility, stereotyping, and intergroup anxiety. Laboratory and field research demonstrates an own‐race bias in recognition accuracy. People are better able to identify members of their own race than members of another race. The significance of own‐race bias in the criminal justice system and intergroup contact situations is reviewed, and cognitive and motivational correlates of own‐race bias are discussed. Four possible explanations for this differential recognition effect are presented. The explanation derived from intergroup contact theory—that differential recognition stems from limited experience with members of other groups—has received surprisingly weak research support thus far, Greater attention to assessing different types of contact may increase our understanding of the ways in which intergroup contact can affect intergroup perceptions.
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