ABSTRACT
In the early development of the child, the family plays a fundamental part in laying the foundation of attitudes which serve the purpose of helping the child to behave appropriately to situations which may be a threat to him; one such attitude is racism. On the one hand racism builds a strong bond among individuals of the same race, but on the other hand it can put strong barriers between people belonging to different races. The prejudice against other racial groups usually lurks under the surface in the human mind, but certain factors may cause this to explode into deep hatred and violence. In this paper, the psychological causes of prejudice and their effects are discussed.
Subject(s)
Personality Development , Prejudice , Race Relations , Child , Humans , Social Identification , ViolenceABSTRACT
The rationale for using the high-risk-group research design in the search for the aetiology of schizophrenia is described. A longitudinal study is being made of three-year-old Mauritian children who underwent a variety of physiological and psychological tests. Groups of these children, selected on the basis of their responses to electrodermal stimulation, are now attending nursery schools established on the island as part of this study. A control group of children do not attend nursery school. It is intended to follow-up these children over the next two decades. Mention is made of the benefits of this research to the development of para-medical and educational services in a developing country.
Subject(s)
Schizophrenia, Childhood/diagnosis , Child, Preschool , Humans , Longitudinal Studies , Mauritius , Methods , Risk , Schizophrenia, Childhood/prevention & controlABSTRACT
The experimental manipulation method is in general not feasible in studies of the etiology of severe mental illness, whereas this method can be used in studies pertaining to primary prevention, because possible preventive methods would most likely be of a protective or beneficial nature. Preventive experimentation requires early detection of those individuals who will eventually become seriously mentally deviant. A study of children at a high genetic risk for schizophrenia is described. This study suggested certain autonomic nervous system variables as predictors of later serious mental breakdown. In a WHO-sponsored project in Mauritius the authors used these results for the selection of a group of children at risk for mental illness. 1,800 3-year-old Mauritian children were studied socially, psychologically, pediatrically and psychophysiologically between 1972 and 1973. 100 of these children were selected for experimental preventive intervention during their daily presence in two modern kindergartens. Members of this group were characterized by either abnormally fast autonomic recovery or autonomic nonresponding, or normal autonomic responding. A matched group of another 100 children served as a community control. The paper presents preliminary results from the screening of the 1,800 children.
