Black Attitudes toward the Political System in the Aftermath of the Watts Insurrection

Journal of Social Issues

2018

Dr. King's 1967 speech was delivered at a tense time for both American race relations and social psychology. Race riots were widespread, the Civil Rights Movement was splintering, the Vietnam War was raging, and social psychology was engaged in a “crisis of relevance.” King listed a series of issues for the social sciences to address. Did we answer his call? Aided by a new, racially more diverse cohort's contributions, social psychology did answer some of King's points. Overall, however, a review suggests at best a mixed response. But of equal importance, the social sciences have failed to communicate our findings to the American public.

Section: Dr King's Call and Spssis Responsesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Summing Up: Did Social Psychology Answer Dr. King's Call?

Journal of Social Issues

2018

“…Social psychologists at U.C.L.A. studied the Watts riot in Los Angeles intensively (Allen, 1970;Cohen, 1970;Johnson, Sears, & McConahay, 1971;Sears, 1969;Sears & McConahay, 1969, 1973; and social psychology was represented in two federally sponsored national studies of school desegregation (U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, 1967;U.S. Office of Education, 1966).…”

Section: Racial Research 1960-1980mentioning

confidence: 99%

SPSSI and Racial Research

Journal of Social Issues

2011

This review highlights the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI)'s racial research contribution to public policy. Although not an initial focus of SPSSI, racial research has long been a central concern of the organization. Klineberg's work in the 1930s established an example of how social research could have widespread influence on social policy. SPSSI books and the Journal of Social Issues reveal the Society's unswerving interest in such topics as prejudice and authoritarianism. The year 1954 proved a watershed year. Gordon Allport published his agenda‐setting The Nature of Prejudice, and SPSSI played a key role in the momentous decision of the U.S. Supreme Court that held racially segregated public schools to be unconstitutional. Due to lack of funds, racial research declined sharply in the 1960s. Later, other concerns—such as an emphasis on cognition and the belated rise of attention to gender discrimination—competed with racial issues. Reactionary Supreme Court justices now often spurn social science evidence. The article closes with an assessment of the Society's racial policy influence in the future.

“…To be sure, there was some relevant social psychological work. Social psychologists at University of California, Los Angeles studied the Watts riot in Los Angeles intensively (Allen, 1970; Cohen, 1970; Johnson, Sears, & McConahay, 1971; Sears, 1969; Sears & McConahay, 1969, 1970, 1973); and social psychology was represented in two federally sponsored national studies of school desegregation (US Commission on Civil Rights, 1967; US Office of Education, 1966). A few social psychologists again served as expert witnesses in shaping the implementation orders of lower courts in specific school districts (Pettigrew, 1979b).…”

Section: Race and Social Science Throughout The Twentieth Centurymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Social Science Study of American Race Relations in the Twentieth Century*

Social & Personality Psych

2008

Racial oppression and conflict have remained a major concern of the USA throughout its history. Not surprisingly, then, 'race relations' -as it is euphemistically termed -has been a focus of American social science since its origins in the late nineteenth century. This focus, however, has been uneven over the past century -often dim and reflecting the racist norms of the times but on occasion intense and pointing the way for reform. This chapter will briefly outline this uneven history of reflection and reform throughout the twentieth century with special attention to how the emerging discipline of American social psychology fits into this larger social scientific scene.