ADOLESCENT PREJUDICE

Chiefly a study of anti-Semitism among high school teenagers undertaken on a grant from the Anti-Defamation League. The authors contrasted the patterns of prejudice in three high school communities within a radius of 200 miles of New York City differing in economic, ethnic and academic make-up. Among the conclusions: there is a sizable amount of anti-Semitism which becomes more extensive the greater the Jewish presence; black teenagers exhibit less prejudice than whites; and social class powerfully affects social distance. Bigotry, the authors found, is strongly rooted in the lack of ""cognitive sophistication""--the failure to recognize and understand prejudice--and education in ""democratic ideals"" is of little use. Among recommendations re the school's role in combatting racial or religious bias: students should be instructed in the necessity of looking beyond surface characteristics; they should learn how group differences came about; and it should be made clear that variation does exist within the group--e.g., all Jewish students are not successful. The research, reported here in indigestible sociologese with many tables, may serve as a basis for more popular interpretations and treatments of the material. This is the seventh volume in the Patterns of American Prejudice series.