The AJP research committee would like to share a description of their APA symposium. This is one of the presentations be presented at this year’s APA meeting in Seattle by members of the Research Committee.
The description of the presentation follows:
Imagining a new developmental science of antisemitism.
Sarah Friedman
Carol Sigelman
Session Description:
The session will describe (a) what is already known about the developmental psychology of antisemitism; (b) barriers to the vitality of this research area; (c) what remains to be learned and (d) how to create a programmatic approach for building the scientific evidence for eradicating antisemitism.
Takeaway 1:
There is hardly any scientific developmental psychological research on antisemitism. Theories and evidence about cognitive, social, and emotional development as well as research about other forms of bias, discrimination and hate could be used when imagining a new developmental science of antisemitism and its eradication.
Takeaway 2:
The importance of the imagined developmental science for the eradication of antisemitism would need to be recognized by the public, legislators, and funders. As we know from the fight to cure cancer, fight AIDS and immunize against COVID, cultivating new science requires tremendous organizational and financial support.
Abstract:
The overall goal of this symposium is to (a) Familiarize the audience with developmental
perspectives on the study of antisemitism and interventions for children and youth aimed at eradicating antisemitism: (b) Describe an agenda for jump starting an inquiry into the developmental psychology of antisemitism.
The first presentation will provide an analysis of quantitative and qualitative studies of antisemitism and its development in childhood and adolescence. The analysis is based primarily on coding of key features of over 40 studies starting with the period following World War II. Features include focus, guiding theory, research design, and cultural context. The analysis reveals that research on antisemitism in childhood and adolescence is most notable for its scarcity and limitations.
The second paper will describe an initiative by a small group of developmental psychologists to imagine a future sub-discipline of developmental psychology that is aimed at understanding (a) the psychological and environmental processes by which children grow to be antisemitic and the conditions that maintain antisemitic attitudes, (b) the effects of antisemitism on Jewish children and youth who grow up in different familial and social contexts and (c) the efficacy of different interventions at the family, school and broader social context. The second paper will also address the need to develop: (a) public awareness, (b) legislator and funder awareness and (c) streams of funding to support research psychologists who embark on research in an area that currently lacks
highly developed and differentiated conceptualizations and validated psychological assessments specific to the topic of antisemitism. This is important because the first generation of researchers pursuing the developmental psychology of antisemitism would be competing for scarce funding with psychologists doing work in well conceptualized areas with validated measures.
