Prejudice and Discrimination

Abstract

Discrimination is a serious and detrimental social issue that negatively impacts the lives of many children worldwide. This entry offers a review of seminal studies that have sought to understand childhood discrimination, including how children come to develop biases, prejudice, and the ability to perceive discrimination. It presents the psychological and educational effects of discrimination on children as well as the methods that have been shown to alleviate prejudice and discrimination in childhood. In sum, understanding these developmental underpinnings of discrimination is essential to promote empirically supported approaches to preventing the many negative effects of childhood discrimination.