Interventions Aimed at the Reduction of Prejudice and Conflict

This chapter reviews real-world interventions aimed at prejudice and conflict reduction. Which work? How effective are they? How do we know? I pay specific attention to the research methods used to study the impact of prejudice and conflict reduction interventions, to determine whether the methods allow for conclusions about the interventions' causal impact. This chapter also discusses the different theoretical bases of prejudice and conflict reduction interventions. Some theoretically driven strategies focus on individual thought and action that give rise to prejudice and conflict, whereas others focus on the environment in which individuals operate. The combined perspectives of social psychology and peace psychology suggest that interventions would do well to use both perspectives. The chapter concludes with recommendations for evaluating and learning from theoretically driven prejudice and conflict reduction interventions.