Conflict and Prejudice

Lewin approached the problem of intergroup conflict and racial prejudice
by describing the life spaces of the members of the conflicting parties. For
example, Lewin saw the life space of many minority group members (such as
religious and racial minorities) as full of obstacles and barriers which restrict
movement in the life space. The life space of the majority member often
consigned the minority member to a small and rigidly bounded region
(for example, a ghetto). By isolating minority group members, majority
group members can develop unrealistic perceptions or stereotypes of the
out-group. Such life spaces are very likely to result in intergroup conflict.
The field theory analysis of racial prejudice suggests that one way to reduce
intergroup conflict is to remove obstacles and increase the permeability
of intergroup barriers. In the later part of his career, Lewin established
the Commission on Community Interrelations as a vehicle for discovering
ways of removing intergroup barriers. Lewin and his colleagues discovered some of the following successful techniques for promoting intergroup harmony:
enacting laws that immediately removed barriers, such as racial quotas
limiting the number of Jews who could attend certain universities; immediate
hiring of blacks as sales personnel, thereby increasing the permeability
of intergroup boundaries by making contact between group members more
likely; responding directly to racial slurs with a calm appeal based on American
traditions and democracy to provide a countervailing force to the slur;
promoting meetings of warring groups in a friendly atmosphere as a means
of breaking down group boundaries; and immediately integrating housing
as a successful way of promoting racial harmony.

Sources for Further Study
Bar-Gal, David, Martin Gold, and Miriam Lewin, eds. The Heritage of Kurt
Lewin: Theory, Research, and Practice. New York: Plenum Press, 1992. Published
with the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. Includes
a bibliography.
De Rivera, Joseph, comp. Field Theory as Human-Science: Contributions of
Lewin’s Berlin Group. New York: Gardner Press, 1976. An English translation
of research conducted by Lewin and his students when Lewin was at
the University of Berlin.
Lewin, Kurt. A Dynamic Theory of Personality. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1959.
Lewin’s first major English work, consisting of a translation of many of his
first papers published in Germany.
__________. “Group Decision and Social Change.” In Readings in Social Psychology,
edited by Theodore M. Newcomb and Eugene L. Hartley. New
York: Holt, 1958. Describes how Lewin changed food preferences during
World War II, providing an excellent example of how to apply field theory
to practical problems.
__________. Resolving Social Conflicts; and, Field Theory in Social Science. Washington,
D.C.: American Psychological Association, 1997. A reprint of two of
Lewin’s most influential works, collecting his major papers discussing practical
problems of modern society such as prejudice and group conflict. Provides
excellent examples of how to apply field theory to social problems.
Marrow, Alfred Jay. The Practical Theorist: The Life andWork of Kurt Lewin. New
York: Teachers College Press, 1977. This definitive biography of Lewin,
written by one of his students, describes the life of Lewin and provides a
glimpse of the personality behind field theory.
Wheelan, Susan A., Emmy A. Pepitone, and Vicki Abt, eds. Advances in Field
Theory. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage, 1990. A collection of essays addressing
issues in field theory such as managing social conflict, self-help
groups, field theory and the construction of social problems, and academic
sex discrimination.
Anthony R. Pratkanis and Marlene E. Turner
See also: Groups; Motivation.