Stigma and Group Inequality: Social Psychological Perspectives (Claremont Symposium on Applied Social Psychology Series) - Hardcover

This book provides a snapshot of the latest theoretical and empirical work on social psychological approaches to stigma and group inequality. It focuses on the perspective of the stigmatized groups and discusses the effects of the stigma on the individual, the interacting partners, the groups to which they belong, and the relations between the groups.

Broken into three major sections, Stigma and Group Inequality:
*discusses the tradeoffs that stigmatized individuals must contend with as they weigh the benefits derived from a particular response to stigma against the costs associated with it;
*explores the ways in which environments can threaten one's intellectual performance, sense of belonging, and self concept; and
*argues that the experience of possessing a stigmatized identity is shaped by social interactions with others in the stigmatized group as well as members of other groups.

Stigma and Group Inequality is a valuable resource for students and scholars in the fields of psychology, sociology, social work, anthropology, communication, public policy, and political science, particularly for courses on stigma, prejudice, and intergroup relations. The book is also accessible to teachers, administrators, community leaders, and concerned citizens who are trying to understand and improve the plight of stigmatized individuals in school, at work, at home, in the community, and in society at large.

Biren (Ratnesh) A. Nagda received his Ph.D. in Social Work and Psychology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He is currently an Associate Professor of Social Work and Director of the Intergroup Dialogue, Education and Action (IDEA) Center at the University of Washington. He co-developed the intergroup dialogue model for college students while doing his doctorate work at the University of Michigan. His research and teaching interests focus on cultural diversity and social justice, intergroup dialogue, and empowerment-oriented social work practice and education. He is the recipient of numerous departmental and university-wide teaching awards, including the 2001 University of Washington Distinguished Teaching Award.

Linda R. Tropp received her B.A. from Wellesley College and her Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Boston College and a member of the Governing Council of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. Her main research programs concern expectations for and outcomes of intergroup contact among members of minority and majority status groups, group membership and identification with social groups, and responses to prejudice and disadvantage among members of socially devalued groups. She received the 2003 Gordon W. Allport Intergroup Relations Award from the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues for her paper A Meta-Analytic Test and Reformulation of Intergroup Contact Theory (co-authored with Thomas F. Pettigrew).

Elizabeth Levy Paluck, M.S., is a doctoral candidate in the Psychology Department at Yale University. Her research interestsinclude gender, intergroup bias, prejudice, and conflict, and research methodology for the evaluation of social programs. Her dissertation reviews evidence for the efficacy of prejudice reduction techniques in the laboratory and in the field. She is currently conducting three field experiments evaluating the impact of three different prejudice reduction interventions in the US and in Rwanda.