Dialogue, Conflict Resolution, and Change: Arab-Jewish Encounters in Israel

CHAPTER 1. INTERGROUP RELATIONS APPROACH

1 Intergroup Relations Approach CONTACT HYPOTHESIS THEORY Contact hypothesis theory is a central part of theories of intergroup relations . Generally, the contact hypothesis theoretical propositions are used to explain prejudice reduction and discrimination in intergroup situations, which are subcategories of the larger arena of intergroup relations. Contact hypothesis theory refers to the approach that brings members of different cultures together over a concentrated period of time. By using group techniques, these meetings seek to strengthen interpersonal relations and thereby change participants' attitudes and opinions toward one another. Hewstone and Brown define and criticize the contact hypothesis's main assumption: Increasing physical intergroup contact inevitably will lead to changes in the mutual attitudes of interacting members and improve their intergroup relations. It focuses on similarity and mechanical solidarity with scant attention to differences and organic solidarity. (HewstonezyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHG 8c Brown, 1986:172) The classical contact hypothesis theory belongs to the extensive human relations movement that emerged after the Second World War. It attempts to combat all forms of intergroup prejudice: racial, religious, and ethnic. According to Allen (1986), it extended into other intergroup domains, including the industrial relations movement and the international arena from which conflict resolution approaches and theories emerged. The main belief in the 1950s was that intergroup contact would inevitably lead to a change in mutual attitudes of interacting members and improve their relations (Ben-Ari 8c Amir, 1986). Several attempts have been made to conceptualize and classify the literature on intergroup relations: Lewin (1947, 1958); Allport (1954); 1 Intergroup Relations Approach zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYX 2 Sherif (1958); Ashmor (1970); Ehrlich (1973); Tajfel (1982); Peled and Bargal (1983); Amir (1976); Ben-Ari and Amir (1986, 1988b); and Hewstone and Brown (1986). These scholars constitute the main bulk of researchers who have attempted to classify the theoretical literature on intergroup relations, especially the contact hypothesis, which stood for many years as the main approach to solving intergroup conflict. Although Tajfel (1982) and Amir (1976) argue that despite the substantial amount of literature on the contact hypothesis, theoretically, there is still little understanding of how contact processes operate as change agents. Peled and Bargal (1983) classified the outcome of these processes of prejudice reduction into three sets of frameworks: (1) Cognitive processes: In this approach, three main cognitive processes to explain intergroup discriminations were identified: (a) the old beliefcongruence approach, which argues that forming attitudes between people is the congruence of their belief system; people are attracted more to others with a similar belief system than to their social group members (Rokeach, 1960, 1968); (b) the social identity and social comparison approach, which assumes that people need to protect their social identity and tend to favor ingroup behavior even when there is no explicit or institutionalized conflict between the groups (Tajfel, 1982); (c) the attribution processes approach, which is based on a social-psychological framework, and relies on attribution theory to explain principles and guidelines that people apply in order to understand, comprehend, and explain the behaviors and attitudes of others.1 (2) Personality development and sociocultural influences: This set of explanatory theories includes the psychodynamic and the sociocultural approaches. The psychoanalytical theory includes aggression and frustration hypotheses (Dollard et al., 1939) and the authoritarian personality hypothesis, which is the modern developed approach of psychodynamic theory. The sociocultural approaches explain prejudice and discrimination behavior on the assumption that these behaviors are learned through the socialization learning processes of the individual interacting with his or her environment (Ashmor & Del Boca, 1976). In the socialization processes there are four major channels or agents: parents, peers, schools, and mass media. (3) Intergroup conflicts and competition: This type of explanation of prejudice and discrimination stands for the societal level of analysis and explanation provided by Ashmor (1970) and Ashmor and Del Boca (1976). In comparison with the previous sets, this type of theory does not rely on individual personality or development but on intergroup relationships as a cause in shaping an individual's attitudes. 3zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCB Intergroup Relations Approach In a comprehensive study of prejudice and intergroup relations, Hewstone and Brown (1986) identified the main theoretical propositions of Allport (1954), Cook (1978, 1979), and Pettigrew (1971). They emphasize a very fundamental distinction between the contact hypothesis and the intergroup relations approach, and suggest the adoption of intergroup processes as the basis for a theoretical explanatory framework. Their argument is based on Tajfel's (1982) social categorization and Tejfel and Turner (1986). In conclusion, the different theoretical bases...