The Robber’s Cave

Abstract

Psychology has offered two basic approaches to describe the phenomenon of prejudice. One line of argument sees it as an individual problem; a sick person model of prejudice. The major influence here is psycho-analysis and the work of Freud, with the root of prejudice being seen to be in childhood experiences that create a damaged adult personality. Adorno et al. (1950) presented the picture of the authoritarian personality who projects his or her unresolved childhood conflicts onto minority groups. The authoritarian personality is narrow minded, a stickler for rules, inhibited about sex, unquestioningly submissive to authority, intolerant of ambiguity, and politically conservative. The basic flaw in this approach to prejudice is the insistence that prejudice is a sign of a sick personality, and that, by implication, most people are not prejudiced.