The subtle–blatant distinction of ethnic prejudice among ethnic majority chidren

Abstract

Research on ethnic prejudice among children is important for contemporary multicultural schools seeking to enhance communication among students from different ethnic groups and provide effective intercultural education. Current scientific discourse points to the appearance of new implicit forms of prejudice, witnessed in modern multicultural societies, while traditional explicit prejudice tends to decline. However, empirical studies concerning the blatant-subtle distinction of prejudice in children are scarce. This paper examines ethnic prejudice in 329 ethnic majority preadolescents (aged 10-13 years) attending 10 urban and rural schools in central Greece. Data were collected using questionnaires constructed on the basis of focus group discussions with children, in addition to sociometric tests. Findings support the subtle-blatant distinction of prejudice in children and indicate that although blatant prejudice expressed as personal rejection is indeed low, perceptions of ethnic minority groups as a 'problem' for school life, as well as subtle prejudice, are substantial. Ethnic minority children are less popular and stigmatizing behaviour is common. Intimacy with an ethnic minority classmate is associated with lower levels of blatant prejudice at the individual level but the other forms of prejudice are not affected.

Disentangling the relation between young immigrants’ host country identification and their friendships with natives

“…Ingroup bias has repeatedly been found to be even stronger for native majority group children than for minority group children and adolescents (e.g., Brüß, 2005;Kinket and Verkuyten, 1999;Leman et al, 2013;Tropp and Pettigrew, 2005;Verkuyten, 2007). Sarafidou et al (2013) further report that a substantial number of native preadolescents express prejudices towards ethnic minority children, which goes hand in hand with a low interest in interethnic relations.…”

Domestic Violence against Albanian Immigrant Women in Greece: Facing Patriarchy

“…Other studies, however, maintain that racist and discriminatory attitudes remain a persistent challenge for social integration for Albanian immigrants [9,13,21] and are routinely faced every day, including by Albanian children in Greek schools [22].…”

Social Interactions among Multi-Ethnic Students

“…Usually the school is the first place where individuals from various cultural backgrounds, will meet and play, a role which exposes the student to socialization (Vedder & O'Dowd, 1999;Mior Khairul Azrin, 2011;Sarafidou, Govaris & Loumakou, 2013). Based on the functional theory, since the school is the first place where students meet, the students need to play their role in accordance with the demands of their school and society, socializing and cooperating with peers to maintain harmony.…”