The Early Socialization to Dislike the Rival Group in Intractable Conflict Context Daniel Bar-Tal and Yona Teichman
Basic Assumptions
In order to understand the Shared Psychological Intergroup Repertoire (SPIR) of the Jewish Children and adolescents in Israel there is need to take their perspective.
In the minds of the great majority of the Jewish children and adolescents Israel is Conflict with Arabs and Palestinian citizens of the state of Israel are Arabs, enemies of the Jews and of the Jewish state of Israel.
Images
Effects of Living in a Society Engaged in Intractable Conflict Integrative Developmental-Contextual Theory (IDCT)-Teichman & Bar-Tal (2007)
Intractable conflict exerts intensive and lasting effects on personal and intergroup reality.
It determines the level of threat, anger, hatred, sense of danger, uncertainty, and hardship of individuals including of children and adolescents.
It intensifies awareness regarding group distinctiveness and as a result the collective identification (Brewer, 1999), and commitment (Spears, Doosje & Ellerms, 1999) including of children and adolescents.
It institutionalizes the norms guiding the behavioral intentions and actual behaviors toward the enemy, the status of the involved groups, the type of boundaries between them, and as a result, the level and type of contact between them.
It accelerates the acquisition of specific linguistic expressions, concepts, and knowledge.
It determines the content, valence, and intensity of the Shared Psychological Intergroup Repertoire (SPIR).
Research Methods
8 studies with Jewish kindergarten children of different regions and SES.
Interview of children at the earliest possible age, the age of two.
Some interviews included direct questions others related to drawings, photographs or illustrated stories.
Descriptions
Definition of the Concept “Arab”
The majority (70%), of the children (age 5-6) who acquired the concept “Arab” offered descriptions or definitions that presented the Arabs negatively, mainly as having negative intentions (“Want to kill”, “Steal”, “Fight with the Jews”, “Are Terrorists”),
10% defined them as soldiers, and only
20% defined them as “people like us” or referred to their language or food.
Description of Appearance
30% of the children used negative terms (mostly ugly), and 30% described them as wearing military uniform.
Few of the children (10%) described the Arab’s appearance in neutral terms (“Wears a kaffia”, “Has a beard”, “Wears a moustache”), other 10% used positive descriptions (“Beautiful”).
The remaining 20% did not provide an answer.
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Image of an Arab
2-3 3-4 4-5 5-6
Sources of Information
The main sources of information about Arabs were television and parents, particularly mothers, while teachers were rarely identified as sources of information.
We believe that the exposure to the information disseminated through television is apparently one of the reasons for the early-acquired negativity toward Arabs. Since child-oriented programs on the Israeli television that present Arabs are rare, children who mention television as their main source of information refer to programs created for adults, particularly the daily news.
סיכום הממצאים
ילדים בגיל צעיר מאוד (3-4) יוצרים דימוי שלילי מאוד של הערבים. הדבר בא לידי ביטוי בהתייחסות למלה "ערבי", למושג "ערבי", לדמות "הערבי", לאפיונים המתארים אותו, לעמדות כלפיו, לרגשות כלפיו ולייחוס כוונות ההתנהגות שלו. התיאורים האלה רוויים בדה-לגיטימציה רבה.
ילדים בגיל מוקדם מאוד (2-3) בונים זהות עצמית יהודית/ישראלית ותופסים את היהודים באופן חיובי מאוד, תוך האדרה רבה. בעצם נמצאה תפיסה דיכוטומית של ה"ערבים" השליליים וה"יהודים" הטובים.
3. תפיסה זו נמצאה בכל שכבות החברה- אצל ילדים מבוססים, ילדי מצוקה, ילדים דתיים וחילוניים, ואף ביישובים מעורבים בהם חיים יהודים וערבים, כולל אצל ילדים שהלכו לגנים עם ילדים ערביים. המקום היחיד שבו ילדים גילו דפוס תפיסה חיובי היה בגן מעורב בו הגננות עשו מאמץ להקנות לילדים תפיסה רב תרבותית ומאוזנת.
4. התפיסות שהתפתחו מגיל מוקדם ביותר, ספגו מהתרבות והאקלים הסביבתי (הטלוויזיה נמצאה כסוכן מעביר חשוב) ורק עם הגיל החלו מעט התמתן.
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