Intergroup Name-Calling and Conditions for Creating Assertive Bystanders
Frances E. Aboud, Anna Joong · 2008
Abstract Racial and ethnic name-calling and other forms of verbal abuse (e.g., hurtful teasing, humiliating and controlling words) are common forms of discrimination among children, as well as adolescents and adults (Corenblum & Stephan, 2001; McNeilly et al., 1996; Schofield, 1982). Regardless of whether the epithet reflects underlying prejudice on the part of the name caller, it serves to subdue and publicly humiliate the victim. Furthermore, it provides a model for peer onlookers and, if not addressed, sets a norm for discriminatory behavior. Nasty name-calling, in particular (hereafter referred to as simply name-calling), which has gained recent prominence as the most common form of schoolyard bullying, was experienced by 75% of victims in one British study (Smith & Shu, 2000). Racial name-calling was explicit in 14% of the cases reported in this study as in others (e.g., Pepler, personal communication), but the personal and intergroup damage arises when any demeaning name and words are directed to a socially different person.