The Psychology of Race Analyzing Hate Crimes

Early Explanations of Prejudice Social scientists believe that, like race, prejudice is learned, not innate. Psychologist Theodor Adorno identified characteristics of the opposite to the tolerant personality, the “authoritarian personality” Such people are quick to judge things as either right or wrong, good, or bad. There is little room for any judgement that falls in-between This personality has a low tolerance for what he called ambiguity

Prejudice and Child Development Social cognitive theory of prejudice – the process by which children first learn race awareness, then either reject or form racial prejudices Children become aware of different ethnic groups at about 4 or 5 years of age Parents & surrounding society have an important influence on what a child learns

Prejudice & Child Development Striking changes occur after age 7 due to the child’s rapidly developing mental capabilities Children’s attention starts to shift away from self and toward other groups around them After age 7 children are cognitively capable of being less prejudiced, making it an ideal time for exposure to education programs that will help them form more positive images of other groups

Continued… As children reach 10 – 12 years of age, their skills and reasoning allow them to identify individuals more clearly, with less emphasis on group characteristics (i.e. seeing individuals without using group labels)

Hate Crimes Four characteristics of Hate Crimes 1. The hatred is intense and impersonal Anger is an emotion, hatred is a sentiment, “an enduring organization of aggressive impulses toward a person or toward a class of persons…composed of habitual bitter feeling and accusatory thought…”

Hate Crimes 2. The hatred is based on prejudice and power Often the power of those who hate comes from strength of numbers, weapons, and surprise

Hate Crimes 3. The hatred is directed at scapegoats for other frustrations E.g. late 1800s, hundreds of African-Americans were hanged each year in the southern US, often as a part of cross-burning rituals organized by the KKK (white supremacists). Sometimes these illegal lynchings were conducted by mobs of poor white farmers, one rung above the victim on the social ladder, for no apparent reason other than to maintain their social status The aim was to create terror and submission among members of the hated scapegoats whom they attacked

Hate Crimes 4. Genocide is an expression of national hatred The greatest excesses of hatred directed against minority scapegoats are those that have been carried out by order as national policy (i.e. the Holocaust) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIw7uI_gVyM