Children of prejudiced parents
- New Delhi Vikas Pub. 1991
- 199 p.
Indian society is a mosaic of diverse sub-cultures, religions, castes, lan guages and ways of life. The plurality of India is its strength as well as its weakness. In recent times, the slogan of unity in diversity seems distant in view of recurring communal riots, caste tensions and regional disputes. The pious ideal of secularism is at stake. It is threatening the very existence of the country. In such an explosive situation the present work gives an illuminating insight into the main causes of this hostile feeling, its different stages of development and the role of parents in its development.
The research reported in this book is a valuable contribution to the existing knowledge of the development of religious identity and prejudice in Christian children - a minority group which has hitherto been neglected by social scientists in India. She has used, for the first time, a longitudinal research design to study the influence of parental prejudice, religious deno mination and age on the development of religious information, religious recognition and religious preference prejudice. She has presented the theo retical framework in a very systematic manner and has dealt in depth the relationship of Christians with other religious communities, a brief history of christianity in India in general and Chotanagpur in particular, the impact of Christianity on the socio-religio cultural milieu and presented a thorough insight on the psychological literature on development of religious identity and prejudice in children which is the resultant of long experience of research of the author. Using scientific methodology and rigorous and complex statistical tech niques, she has unveiled the mystery of the development of hostile attitudes and prejudices and come out with some startling findings.
Thus, this book will be invaluable for students of psychology, sociology, anthropology and social work as also for social planners, historians and politicians, and others interested in people and their problems. It is a laudable attempt to dispel the darkness of prejudice from our lives and facilitate interaction among the several religious and caste groups within our nation.