GENERAL OVERVIEW
I. Study the following words and word-combinations:
To resort to violent means – прибегать к насильственным средствам; atrocities – зверства; ethnic cleansing – этническая чистка; attitudes – установки; disagreements and contradictions – разногласия и противоречия; to contribute to – способствовать чему-то; the level of animosity – уровень враждебности; the line of investigation – линия исследования; to refrain from- воздерживаться от; to pertain – иметь отношение; to coin a term – придумать термин; traits – черты; aversion or acceptance – антипатия или принятие; public fiction – народный вымысел; consciously or unconsciously – сознательно или несознательно; to shift emphasis – переключить акцент.
II. Read and translate the text.
Ethnicandpoliticalconflictshavebeenpartofhumanexistence throughout history. The persistence of conflicts in contemporary times is evident in examples such as Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Kosovo, Sri Lanka, Chechnya, Rwanda, and the Middle East. In these places groups clash and resort to violent means, including terrorism, atrocities, wars, ethnic cleansing, and genocide, that bring widespread suffering to the civilian population. In these conflicts psychological components play an important role.
Group members are believed to act on the basis of the knowledge, images, attitudes, feelings, and emotions that they hold about the conflict; about their own past, present, and future as a group; and about the rival group. Although we do not think that conflicts are about disagreements and contradictions with regard to real issues such as territories, self-determination, resources, or trade, we also believe that psychological determinants contribute greatly to their evolvement, maintenance, and management.
In discussing the psychological foundations of conflicts, the representation of the rival groups is said to be of special importance, since it plays a determinative role in the inter-group relations. This representation, which includes cognitive-effective elements, determines the level of animosity, hostility, and mistrust between the groups that eventually may lead to violent acts that continue to reinforce the representation.
The study of a group’s mental representations requires an exploration of stereotyping and prejudice, which are essential aspects of inter-group relations. Indeed, the study of stereotypes and prejudice is one of the major undertakings of the social sciences in general and social psychology in particular. The line of investigation has provided much knowledge about stereotypes and prejudice, mostly at the individual level but also at a group level. However, much of this research is certain to be preoccupied mostly with specific, micro level research questions and refrains from looking at real-life issues in a holistic way.
The study of stereotypes and prejudice has burgeoned for decades. The concept “stereotype” pertains to the cognitive repertoire (i.e., beliefs) that people have about the characteristics of other groups, and “prejudice” refers to the attitude that people hold toward another group. Some scholars coined the term “stereotype” to describe the uniform pictures (i.e., preconceptions) that group members hold in their minds to simplify their view of the world and for reaching common agreement regarding events in their environment.
Other scholars in their study define stereotypes as “pictures” of national and ethnic groups, which reflect attitudes toward them. These “pictures” include traits that produce varying levels of aversion or acceptance. The results indicate that people hold a shared repertoire of traits that characterize other groups, and that the observed sharing of traits is a result not of personal knowledge but of public fiction, when individuals accept consciously or unconsciously the group fallacy attitude toward place of birth and skin color.
Over the years, as new theories and conceptions were developed, studies of stereotypes and prejudice shifted their emphasis. At first, stereotype was seen as the product of faulty, rigid, and irrational thinking, and it was often used interchangeably with prejudice. However, later most researchers began to consider it an expression of normal and universal cognitive functioning, based on the categorization process. This basic conception is accepted today.
The continuous interest in stereotypes and prejudice by scientists from different disciplines conveys the significance attributed to this area. This drive is of importance since from very early on it was proposed that this line of study is likely to contribute to understanding of inter-group relations and conflicts. (from “Stereotypes and Prejudice in Conflict”, Cambridge University Press)
III. Give English equivalents for:
Самоопределение; недоверие; предоставлять большую часть знаний; заниматься; расцветать в течение десятилетий; убеждения; иметь в виду; достичь согласия; окружающая среда; ошибочность; устойчивое мышление; побуждение.