Stereotypes and Prejudice in Conflict Representations of Arabs in Israeli Jewish Society by Daniel Bar-Tal and Yona Teichman (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2005. 502 pages.)

Abstract

During the last twenty years, a discernible increase in the analysis of stereotypes
and the role they assume during conflicts has occurred, with significant
interest emanating from the field of social psychology. For the authors of
Stereotypes and Prejudice in Conflict: Representations of Arabs in Israeli
Jewish Society, years of research have culminated in a publication that
unflinchingly explores such diverse topics as delegitimization tactics and
unity as well as the development of perceptions among pre-schoolers.
Daniel Bar-Tal, a professor in Tel Aviv University’s Psychology Department,
is the author of several notable works on the issue, including Social
Psychology of Intergroup Conflict (Springer-Verlag: 1998) and How
Children Understand War and Peace (Jossey Bass: 1999). Likewise, Yona
Teichman, a clinical psychologist at Tel Aviv University, brings a level of
expertise honed from extensive research on the development and application
of an implicit, free-response measure of social representations based on the
systematic analysis of human figure drawings. Through this dynamic, they
strive to contribute to future peace endeavors by prompting the critical
analysis of one’s own society and the processes that impede conflict resolution,
while encouraging new perspectives that will end the violent cycles that
sustain conflict.
From a strong opening chapter, the authors negotiate through twelve
chapters adeptly, the most notable of which include chapter 4, “Representation
of Arabs in Public Discourse”; chapter 5, “Representation of Arabs in
School Textbooks”; and chapter 10, “Studies with Schoolchildren, Adolescents,
and Young Adults.” All of these chapters are supported by a plethora
of tables comprising generalization, characterization, and negativity; color ...