S J Gould

1
Hraba
2
Hraba and Grant (1970) Black dolls and White
dolls

• Black IS beautiful
• A re-examination of racial preference and
  identification

3
Some background.

• This study replicates a classic study by Clark
  Clark (1939) where children were asked to choose
  between black and white dolls

4
Some background.

• Clark Clark found that Black children
• preferred White dolls and rejected Black dolls
  when asked to choose which were NICE, which
  looked BAD, which they would LIKE to play with
  and which were a nice colour

5
Some background.

• The Clark Clark findings suggested that Black
  children had negative attitudes towards
  themselves and their cultural background
• The Clark Clark study was replicated over a 20
  year period with similar results

6
Hraba and Grant - Black is beautiful

• THE TOPIC
• Racial identification, self awareness and
  preference in Black-American children

7
Hraba and Grant - Black is beautiful

• THE QUESTION
• Do Black-American children demonstrate Black
  racial preference and racial self identification?

8
Hraba and Grant - Black is beautiful

• KEY TERMS
• civil rights
• ethnocentrism
• identity
• race racism
• role model
• segregation

9
Hraba and Grant - Black IS beautiful

• What Hraba Grant did
• They replicated the Clark Clark study
  procedures as much as possible

10
Hraba and Grant - Black IS beautiful

• The participants
• 160 children aged between 4 and 8
• All attended primary schools in Lincoln Nebraska,
  USA
• 89 were Black and 71 were White

11
Hraba and Grant - Black IS beautiful

• The ethnicity of the population of the town of
  Lincoln
• 1.4 of population were Black
• In the 5 schools used in the study
• 3, 3, 3, 7, 18 were Black
• 70 of Black child Ps had White friends

12
Hraba and Grant - Black IS beautiful

• The procedure
• Children interviewed individually using a set of
  four dolls
• Two Black dolls and two White dolls
• They were identical except for colour

13
Hraba and Grant - Black IS beautiful

• Each child was asked these 8 questions
• Give me the doll that you want to play with
• Give me the doll that is a nice doll
• Give me the doll that looks bad
• Give me the doll that is a nice colour
• Give me the doll that looks like a White child
• Give me the doll that looks like a coloured child
• Give me the doll that looks like a Negro child
• Give me the doll that looks like you

14
Hraba and Grant - Black IS beautiful

• These four questions were to measure RACIAL
  PREFERENCE
• Give me the doll that you want to play with
• Give me the doll that is a nice doll
• Give me the doll that looks bad
• Give me the doll that is a nice colour

15
Hraba and Grant - Black IS beautiful

• These three questions were to measure racial
  awareness or knowledge
• Give me the doll that looks like a White child
• Give me the doll that looks like a coloured child
• Give me the doll that looks like a Negro child

16
Hraba and Grant - Black IS beautiful

• This question measured
• RACIAL self-identification
• Give me the doll that looks like you

17
Hraba and Grant - Black IS beautiful

• The results
• Give me the doll that you want to play with
• 83 white Ps chose White doll
• 70 Black Ps chose Black doll

18
Hraba and Grant - Black IS beautiful

• The results
• Give me the doll that is a NICE doll
• 70 White Ps chose White doll
• 54 Black Ps chose Black doll

19
Hraba and Grant - Black IS beautiful

• The results
• Give me the doll that looks bad
• 34 White Ps chose White doll
• 36 Black Ps chose Black doll

20
Hraba and Grant - Black IS beautiful

• The results
• Give me the doll that is a nice colour
• 48 White Ps chose White doll
• 69 Black Ps chose Black doll

21
Hraba and Grant - Black IS beautiful

• The results
• Both Black and White children preferred dolls of
  their own race
• White Ps were more ethnocentric on questions 1
  and 2, but there was no difference on question 3

22
Hraba and Grant - Black IS beautiful

• The results
• Clark Clark found that Black children at all
  ages preferred White dolls
• Hraba and Grant found that Black children at all
  ages preferred Black dolls and this preference
  increased with age

23
Hraba and Grant - Black IS beautiful

• Categorisation of Ps
• C C and H G
• light (practically white)
• medium (light brown to dark brown)
• dark (dark brown to black)

24
Hraba and Grant - Black IS beautiful

• Clark Clark found that the light children
  showed greatest preference for White dolls, and
  the dark children the least preference
• Hraba and Grant found no such trend

25
Hraba and Grant - Black IS beautiful

• For questions 5 to 8
• Children made FEW errors of racial identification
• Race of the interviewer had no effect on choices
  of either W or B children

26
Hraba and Grant - Black IS beautiful

• There was no relationship between choice of doll
  and the race of the respondents friends
• 23 black children answered questions 1 to 4
  preferring the black doll 20 of these had white
  friends
• 20 white children answered preferring the white
  doll 12 had black friends

27
Hraba and Grant - Black IS beautiful

• Conclusion
• Great change between 1939 and 1969
• Black people more proud of their race in 1969
  than in 1939

28
Hraba and Grant - Black IS beautiful

• Conclusion
• Great change between 1939 and 1969
• The growth of organisations in the Black
  community may have enhanced Black pride

29
Hraba and Grant - Black IS beautiful

• Conclusion
• Great change between 1939 and 1969
• Inter racial contact might create Black pride

30
Hraba and Grant - Black IS beautiful

• But Clark Clark did not perform their study in
  Lincoln Nebraska
• Perhaps Black children in Lincoln, unlike other
  cities, may have chosen Black dolls in 1939?

31
Hraba and Grant - Black IS beautiful

• Discussion point
• Can childrens preferences for dolls tell us
  anything about their racial identity?

32
Hraba and Grant - Black IS beautiful

• Discussion point
• Given the ages of the children - what factor
  might have affected their answers
• Think about Samuel Bryant

33
Hraba and Grant - Black IS beautiful

• The H G replication shows us that social
  psychological findings are inevitably the product
  of a particular point in history
• and how important it is to review the findings of
  classic studies

34
Hraba and Grant - Black IS beautiful

• The findings suggest that there had been a change
  in the consciousness of black children over the
  20 year period

35
Hraba and Grant - Black IS beautiful

• THE TOPIC
• Racial identification, self awareness and
  preference in Black-American children
• THE QUESTION
• Do Black-American children demonstrate Black
  racial preference and racial self identification

36
Hraba and Grant - Black IS beautiful

• Social history of USA in 1960s
• The Civil Rights movement
• Martin Luther King
• Militant Black leadership
• Desegregation of schools and colleges

37
(No Transcript)
38
Hraba and Grant - Black IS beautiful

• Methodology?
• Ethical Issues?
• Ethnocentrism?
• Links with other studies?

39
Hraba and Grant - Black IS Beautiful

• the end