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Preventing Prejudice
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Preventing Prejudice
A Guide for Counselors, Educators, and Parents

Second Edition


March 2006 | 392 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
"A unique and refreshing book that tackles two of the most interrelated and problematic issues in our society: prejudice and racism.  The First Edition was unanimously acclaimed as a major contribution to the field and this second edition is destined to be a classic.  It represents one of the most clear, concise and honest looks at the origins, manifestations, dynamics and psychological costs of prejudice and racism written thus far.  This is truly a superb book that makes a major contribution to the field and should be read by everyone." -- Derald Wing Sue, Ph.D., Teachers College, Columbia University  

"This text is an authentic expression and plea that challenges each of us to build alliances across demographic boundaries in order to fight an insidious social disease.  Drs. Ponterotto, Utsey, and Pedersen succeed in dislodging us from our comfortable categories of intellectual, emotional, behavioral, and spiritual apathy, and invite us to transcend the amount of social disappointment and despair and strive towards a more hopeful and optimistic future." -- Thomas A. Parham, Ph.D., Distinguished Psychologist, Association of Black Psychologists                           

"A critical resource book for educators, counselors, and parents to learn more about how to handle prejudice, and should be required reading for all of us who work with diverse populations.  It is a powerful book that helps us to see that we can make a difference in fighting prejudice." --Nadya A. Fouad, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee

"An impressive, deliberate and problem-oriented second edition.  Prejudice has no boundaries and spares no one.  Preventing Prejudice offers hope and resources to all of us, counselors, educators, and parents.  We are all agents of change."
 --Patricia Arredondo, Ed.D., Arizona State University and President, American Counseling Association

The Second Edition of Preventing Prejudice: A Guide for Counselors, Educators, and Parents has been completely revised and expanded to provide the most up-to-date and extensive coverage of prejudice and racism available. The new edition of this bestselling text presents a comprehensive overview of these topics and also includes practical tools for combating prejudice development in children, adolescents, and adults.

Key Features:

  • Stresses the importance of critical role models: The text emphasizes the critical role counselors, educators, and parents must play in the fight against prejudice and racism. Pragmatic in nature, the book includes strategies that can be used by parents, teachers, and counselors in working to reduce prejudice across the lifespan.
  • Encourages healthy identity development: The text reviews an extensive body of empirical research on the link between identity development, prejudice, and mental health. The book summarizes racial, biracial, multiracial, and gay and lesbian identity models. A major new theory highlights the link of multicultural personality development to prejudice-free attitudes and behavior as well as to quality of life.
  •  Offers field-tested tools: The text provides concrete, easy to implement exercises on preventing prejudice and increasing multicultural awareness. In addition, the book includes a review of tests and instruments that measure prejudice and a list of films and books that serve as a resource guide for readers. The authors draw on theory and research in social, developmental, counseling, and cross-cultural psychology as well as in sociology and education.  

Intended Audience: This text is designed for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses on prejudice and racism in the fields of multicultural education, counseling, social work, developmental psychology, and human development. It is also an ideal resource for teachers, counselors, administrators, managers, and parents.


 
Foreword by James M. Jones
 
Preface
 
Acknowledgments
 
Part I. Prejudice and Racism: Prevalence and Consequences
 
1. Understanding Prejudice and Racism
The Problem of Hate

 
Purpose and Focus of This Book

 
Some Important Definitions

 
Understanding Prejudice

 
Understanding Racism

 
Chapter Summary

 
 
2. Some Historical Background on the Origins and Evolution of Racial Prejudice
Prehistoric Roots of Racial Prejudice

 
Origins of Modern Racial Prejudice

 
Evolution of Racial Prejudice

 
Implications for Prejudice Reduction

 
Chapter Summary

 
 
3. Causes and Consequences of Racial Prejudice
Racism and White Americans

 
Racism and the Black Experience

 
Chapter Summary

 
 
Part II. Racial, Biracial, Multiracial, and Lesbian and Gay Identity Development and the Multicultural Personality
 
4. Person of Color (Minority) Identity Development, Mental Health, and Prejudice
Erikson's and Marcia's Models of Identity Development

 
Hardiman's Stages of Social Identity Development

 
General Models of Minority Identity Development

 
Race- and Ethnicity-Specific Models of Minority Identity Development

 
Integration of Identity Models and Relationship to Mental Health and Prejudice

 
Summary of Research Correlates of Identity Stages

 
 
5. European American (White) Racial Identity Development, Mental Health, and Prejudice
Hardiman's White Identity Development Model

 
Helms' White Racial Identity Model

 
Ponterotto's White Racial Consciousness Development Model

 
Rowe, Bennett, and Atkinson's White Racial Consciousness Model

 
Integrative Models of White Racial Identity

 
Why Is White Racial Identity Development Important? What Does the Research Say?

 
 
6. Biracial, Multiracial, and Gay or Lesbian Identity Development
Biracial and Multiracial Identity Development

 
Models of Biracial and Multiracial Identity Development

 
Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Identity Development

 
Chapter Summary

 
 
7. Multicultural Personality Development
What Is the Multicultural Personality?

 
How Does the Multicultural Personality Relate to Broader Models of Personality?

 
Chapter Summary

 
 
Part III. Proactive Roles in Reducing Prejudice
 
8. Counselor Roles in Prejudice Reduction and Race Relations
Traditional Roles of the Counselor

 
Counselor Skills and Prejudice Prevention Work

 
Counselor Roles in Working With Prejudice

 
Chapter Summary

 
 
9. Teacher Roles in Prejudice Reduction
Teacher- and Student-Centered Strategies for Reducing Prejudice

 
Using Curricula and Instructional Techniques to Reduce Prejudice

 
Chapter Summary

 
 
10. Parent Roles in Prejudice Reduction
Children and Prejudice

 
Early Formation of Racial Attitudes and Preferences

 
How Do Parents, Peers, and Personality Influence Prejudice Levels in Children?

 
What Parents Can Do to Promote Tolerance in Their Children

 
Chapter Summary

 
 
Part IV. Practical Exercises for Multicultural Awareness and Prejudice Reduction
An Orientation to Practical Exercises for Multicultural Awareness and Prejudice Reduction

 
 
11. Race Relations in Elementary and Middle Schools
Exercise 1: The Label Game

 
Exercise 2: Patterns of Difference

 
Exercise 3: Symbols of Our Culture

 
Exercise 4: One Situation But Many Interpretations

 
Chapter Summary

 
 
12. Race Relations in High School
Exercise 5: Being Normal and Being Abnormal

 
Exercise 6: Stereotypes

 
Exercise 7: Personal Culture History

 
Exercise 8: Predicting the Decision of a Resource Person From the Community

 
Chapter Summary

 
 
13. Race Relations on the College Campus
Exercise 9: A Classroom Debate

 
Exercise 10: Analysis of a Newspaper Article Through Role Playing

 
Exercise 11: Designing a Multiethinic Simulation

 
Exercise 12: Lump Sum

 
Chapter Summary

 
 
14. Race Relations in the Community
Exercise 13: Critical Incidents

 
Exercise 14: The Intrapersonal Cultural Grid

 
Exercise 15: The Interpersonal Cultural Grid

 
Exercise 16: Outside "Experts"

 
Chapter Summary

 
 
Part V. Instruments and Resources for Prejudice Prevention Work
 
15. Assessments of Prejudice, Cultural Competence, Stressful Effects of Racism, Racial and Ethnic Identity, and the Multicultural Personality
Measures of Racism, Prejudice, and Homophobia

 
Measures of Multicultural Counseling Competence

 
Measures of Teachers' Multicultural Competence

 
Measures of the Stressful Effects of Racism

 
Measures of Racial and Ethnic Identity Development

 
Measures of the Multicultural Personality

 
Guidelines for Selecting Multicultural Instruments

 
 
16. A Race Awareness Resource Guide
National Organizations

 
Books

 
Films and Videos

 
Popular Movies

 
Working With Films and Books

 
Chapter Summary

 
 
Appendix I: The Quick Discrimination Index (QDI)
 
Appendix II: Multicultural Counseling Knowledge and Awareness Scale (MCKAS)
 
Appendix III: Teacher Multicultural Attitude Survey (TMAS)
 
Appendix IV: Index of Race-Related Stress–Brief Version (IRRS-B)
 
References
 
Author Index
 
Subject Index
 
About the Authors

An impressive, deliberate and problem-oriented Second Edition. Prejudice has no boundaries and spares no one. Preventing Prejudice offers hope and resources to all of us, counselors, educators, and parents. We are all agents of change.

Patricia Arredondo, Ed.D.
Arizona State Universityand President, American Counseling Association

Ponterotto and Pedersen’s original book was a primer embraced by professionals and parents alike. It was a call to action, pressing the reader to DO SOMETHING to effect change. The Second Edition, with Utsey as a powerful third voice, is truly a new book. The field has grown, the literature has exploded, yet racial and cultural prejudice still flourish. This new book expands our awareness of the problem. The section on the history and consequences of prejudice is thought-provoking. The introduction of the Multicultural Personality builds on literature from several fields. Finally, the authors prompt the reader to apply this new-found knowledge with age-specific exercises. With this exciting edition in hand there is no excuse to not DO SOMETHING to reduce or prevent prejudice.

Sharon H. Bowman, Ph.D.
Ball State University

Preventing Prejudice: A Guide for Counselors, Educators, and Parents, Second Edition is a unique and refreshing book that tackles two of the most interrelated and problematic issues in our society: prejudice and racism. The first edition was unanimously acclaimed as a major contribution to the field and this second edition is destined to be a classic. It represents one of the most clear, concise and honest looks at the origins, manifestations, dynamics and psychological costs of prejudice and racism written thus far. One of its major strengths is the authors’ ability to relate these topics to everyday life, to speak directly to counselors, educators, and parents in meaningful ways, to ground their concepts in the research and theories of the day, and to give an uplifting message about what can be done to combat these two evils. Toward this end they provide specific suggestions and exercises that can be used by readers to combat their own biases and to help others as well. Educators wishing to help their students begin the process of confronting their own biases, parents who desire to help their children become multicultural citizens of the world, and counselors who wish to become culturally competent will find much in this book. This is truly a superb book that makes a major contribution to the field and should be read by everyone.

Derald Wing Sue, Ph.D.
Teachers College, Columbia University

The distance between aspiring towards human affirmation on one hand, and legitimate change in the social climate of America on the other, is paved with the road called rhetoric. Like a forbidden relationship, rhetoric promises much but delivers very little. Politicians, educators, mental health professionals, and even parents use rhetoric because if protects our fragile sensibilities and disguises our prejudices, biases, and fears around issues of race, gender, class, sexual orientation, disability, and religion. Preventing Prejudice: A Guide for Counselors, Educators, and Parents, Second Edition, helps to close the gap between those two extremes, and equips us all with a valuable and precious tool for confronting the many prejudices we often find it difficult to engage, let alone admit to ourselves. Beyond rhetoric, this text is an authentic expression and plea that challenges each of us to build alliances across demographic boundaries in order to fight an insidious social disease. Drs. Ponterotto, Utsey, and Pedersen succeed in dislodging us from our comfortable categories of intellectual, emotional, behavioral, and spiritual apathy, and invites us to transcend the amount of social disappointment and despair and strive towards a more hopeful and optimistic future.

Thomas A. Parham, Ph.D.
Distinguished Psychologist, Association of Black Psychologists

Preventing Prejudice, Second Edition, is a critical resource book for educators, counselors, and parents to learn more about how to handle prejudice, and should be required reading for all of us who work with diverse populations. I was thrilled to see the second edition, and was most impressed with the authors’ blend of scholarship and practical applications. It is a powerful book that helps us to see that we can make a difference in fighting prejudice. The authors have significantly expanded on the excellent first edition in a practical and nonjudgmental way, and most importantly, provide a concrete and proactive approach to reducing prejudice. The authors hope that by providing individuals with more knowledge and an opportunity to practice prejudice reduction, we can indeed combat prejudice in its many forms. That hope is realized by this excellent book.

Nadya A. Fouad, Ph.D.
University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee

In our culturally diverse society, educational and helping service professionals have a need to understand the complex nature of prejudice and what may contribute to the prevention or maintenance of such beliefs. This book provides invaluable information on the historical and theoretical context for the development of prejudice, and offers key insights to help professionals understand counselor, educator and parental roles in the prevention of prejudice. Furthermore, professionals will find the descriptive information on exercises, measures, and other resources (e.g., books, videos/films, organizations) essential tools in their efforts to educate and sensitize others about the varied ways in which prejudice affects our lives.

Alan W. Burkard, Ph.D.
Marquette University

Preventing Prejudice, Second Edition, is a tour de force in understanding the harmful effects of prejudice and racism on intergroup relations. Thoroughly researched and comprehensive in scope, this book offers state of the art information on the causes and consequences of racial prejudice. The authors move beyond analysis to offer practical solutions for reducing prejudice. One of the book’s unique contributions to the multicultural literature lies in the authors’ ability to simultaneously address both professional (e.g., educators and counselors) and lay (e.g., parents) audiences. Without a doubt this book is one of the most important resources that advocates for social justice and human rights can own. Preventing Prejudice should be required reading for all counselors, educators, and mental health professionals.

Kevin O. Cokley, Ph.D.
University of Missouri, Columbia

I did not think it was possible, but the Second Edition of Preventing Prejudice is even better than the first! The authors have blessed us with a volume filled with relevant information about the causes and consequences of prejudice and discrimination, along with proactive strategies for reducing and ameliorating prejudice. Not only must individuals who are serious about preventing and eradicating prejudice read this book, but they also should ensure that it is a treasured work in their collection! The Second Edition of Preventing Prejudice is destined to be on everyone’s all-time top ten list of books in the area of prejudice reduction and social justice action.

Madonna G. Constantine, Ph.D.
Teachers College, Columbia University

Preventing Prejudice: A Guide for Counselors, Educators, and Parents, Second Edition, is must reading for anyone who is interested in better understanding what they can do to address the complex forms of prejudice, racism, and other forms of cultural oppression that continue to exist in our contemporary society. Ponterotto, Utsey, and Pedersen have truly produced a masterpiece that highlights many practical strategies counselors, educators, and parents can do to foster a greater level of social justice and mental health in our 21st-century, culturally- and racially-diverse society. If I had to recommend one book for counselors, educators, and parents to read this year that addresses these issues, this would be it!

Michael D’Andrea
University of Hawaii and Executive Director of the National Institute for Multicultural Counseling

This book is an essential reference for people working in the fields of multiculturalism, counseling, and education. The model of prejudice that this book uses reflects the most recent scholarship on the psychological impact of race and racism. This perspective considers prejudice not as an abhorrent isolated act or tendency, but as an expression of an individual’s level of racial identity in the context of societal racism. This holistic point of view locates the individual within cultural and societal systems of which he or she is a part. Individual prejudice and societal racism are considered together, as are the cost to both to people of color and to Whites (the latter is frequently ignored). One especially valuable feature of this new edition is the emphasis on parents and educators. It opens the book to new audiences, particularly teachers and parents who have tremendous influence on the formation of the next generation. It gives added teeth to the word "preventing" in the title. To the extend that anti-racism education can be made a regular feature of elementary and high school curricula, this book may help a student address very serious issues before they become entrenched in his or her personality. So often, anti-prejudice training is remedial; this book is extraordinary because it truly focuses on prevention. In academia, we frequently lament the gap between theory, research, and practice. These authors suggest that the ideas put forward are in fact amenable to practical application and empirical validation and, in each case, they provide the means to do so.

George V. Gushue, Ph.D.
Teachers College, Columbia University
Key features
  • Provides an understanding of the roots, causes, and consequences of prejudice and racism on the individual and on society
  • Outlines effective exercises and programs aimed at increasing multicultural awareness
  • Reviews tools, assessments, and resources that can help counselors, educators, administrators, and parents increase tolerance and reduce prejudice
  • New edition includes expanded coverage and a more accessible writing style

Sample Materials & Chapters

Chapter 1

Chapter 3

Chapter 5


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