Children and Social Exclusion : Morality, Prejudice, and Group Identity

How children weigh fairness and stereotypic expectations when making exclusion decisions is determined by their understanding of group norms, social identity, and friendships with children from other backgrounds.

Children and Social Exclusion: Morality, Prejudice, and Group Identity explores the origins of prejudice and the emergence of morality to explain why children include some and exclude others. Formulates an original theory about children’s experiences with exclusion and how they understand the world of discrimination based on group membershipBrings together Social Domain Theory and Social Identity Theory to explain how children view exclusion that often results in prejudice, and inclusion that reflects social justice and moralityPresents new research data consisting of in-depth interviews from childhood to late adolescence, observational findings with peer groups, and experimental paradigms that test how children understand group dynamics and social norms, and show either group bias or moralityIllustrates data with direct quotes from children along with diagrams depicting their social understandingPresents new insights about the origins of prejudice and group bias, as well as morality and fairness, drawn from extensive original data