Social
Cohesion
Social cohesion is defined as “the willingness of members of a
society to cooperate with each other in order to survive and prosper” (Stanley,
2003, p. 5). In other words, in a socially cohesive society members of society would
choose of their own accord to work together with each other towards common
goals and there would be an opportunity for everyone to realize their goals due
to cooperation and sharing of resources of all members of society (Stanley,
2003). Research findings show that social cohesion can lead to improved health
and economy (Stanley, 2003).
There are two different approaches
or conceptualizations of social cohesion. In one view, which has been the
dominant conceptualization, social cohesion can only be brought about by all
members of society having common values, norms, and a single identity. An
alternative view is that social cohesion can be brought about by extensive
interaction and participation of individuals (Soroka, Johnston, & Banting,
2006). Today’s societies are diverse and made up of multiple identities and
different values, and the idea of all members of society sharing the same
values and a single identity can be thought of as impractical (Soroka et al.,
2006). This is why this second approach to social cohesion appears to be a more
practical and realistic understanding of the development of social cohesion.
Therefore, social cohesion can be achieved through acknowledgement
and inclusion of every identity and the active participation and engagement of
all members of society (Soroka, Johnston, & Banting, 2006). An
understanding of the barriers to social cohesion can be helpful in developing
action plans to increase the level of social cohesion in society.
Current State of Social Cohesion in Canada
One indicator of social cohesion is if people from diverse
backgrounds feel a sense of belonging to a community (Cheong, Edwards,
Goulbourne, & Solomos, 2007). Recent findings from My Health My Community
survey (2016) indicate that lack of sense of belonging can be considered to be
a major problem in Vancouver, BC where only 56% of the people feel a strong
sense of community belonging. Among people between the ages of 18 and 39, even
a lower percentage (45%) feel a strong sense of community belonging. Judging
from the high percentages of people in Vancouver who do not feel a sense of
community belonging (44%), we can safely conclude that social cohesion is an
area that needs improvement.
One of the factors that can negatively impact social cohesion is
diversity (Reitz & Banerjee, 2014). Ethnic diversity can adversely affect
social cohesiveness in two ways. First, if diversity leads to inequality, it
can lead to individuals and groups feeling that they are treated unfairly and
excluded. Secondly, ethnic diversity can also lead to a lack of common values,
commitments and connections between individuals and groups, and as a result the
individuals’ ability to work together towards common goals (Reitz &
Banerjee, 2014).
With 36% of the population of the city born outside of Canada, and
41% non-Caucasian or visible minority (My Health My Community survey, 2016),
Vancouver is one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse cities in
Canada. Research findings also indicate that the integration of immigrants,
particularly non-Caucasian (visible minority) immigrants, is slow and that is
mainly due to discrimination and inequality. Research findings indicate that
even after years of living in Canada a significant portion of immigrants report
experiences of discrimination (Reitz & Banerjee, 2014) For example, in one study, it was found that
35.9% of visible minorities who have lived in Canada more than 10 years
reported experiences of discrimination, compared with 10.6% of Whites (Reitz
& Banerjee, 2014). Even among those who arrived earlier, experiences of
discrimination are at 35.5%; and 42.2% of the children of racial minority
immigrants report experiencing discrimination (Reitz & Banerjee, 2014).
Research findings also show that White Caucasian Canadians earn significantly
higher incomes on average than their non-Caucasian counterparts (Reitz &
Banerjee, 2014). The experience of discrimination and inequality can lead to
slower social integration of racial minority immigrants and increased feelings
of isolation among them (Reitz & Banerjee, 2014). The perceptions of
inequality or discrimination, negatively impact their sense of social belonging,
resulting in a lack of social cohesion in society in general (Reitz &
Banerjee, 2014). Research findings show that all second generation visible
minority groups are less likely to self-identify as Canadians, vote, or have a
sense of belonging in Canada (Reitz & Banerjee, 2014).
Role of Psychology
Over the past decades, there have been major movement towards
acknowledging diversity, equal rights, and privileges (APA, 2002). One of the
major movements that can be said to mark the beginnings of these changes is
Civil Rights movement and the 1964 passing of the Civil Rights Act (APA, 2002).
The role of Psychology has partly been to provide empirical support for the
negative impact of racism and discrimination on African Americans and other
ethnic minorities (Hargrove & Williams, 2014). Culture’s significance in
the practice of psychology was first acknowledged in the Vail Conference of
1973. Since then, there has been a focus on multicultural and cultural
sensitivity training and research (APA, 2002). APA Committee on Accreditation
(APA, 2002) considers cultural diversity training as a component of effective
training. In Canada, the multicultural policy was developed in 1970’s. In
addition, to extensive research on the topic, numerous organizations have been
established for the purpose of supporting diversity since the 1970’s (Driedger,
2011).
Psychological research has been successful in highlighting the
negative impact of inequalities, discrimination, and lack of integration of
immigrants on visible minorities’ mental and physical health (Edge &
Newbold, 2013; Gibbons et al., 2014). Research on immigrant settlement and
acculturation has identified the various patterns of settlement and adaptation
to the new country and potential consequences. The four major styles of
acculturation are assimilation, separation, marginalization, and integration.
In assimilation, individuals are primarily involved with the host culture and
are not involved in their own cultural group. In separation the individual only
interacts within his own community. In deculturation or marginalization, the
individual is involved with neither his own ethnic group not the host larger
society. The fourth possibility involves holding on to one’s own cultural
identity while interacting with the larger society as well (Berry, 1984).
Research findings show that integration is the most successful acculturation
style (Behrens, del Pozo, Grobhenning, Sieberer, & Graef-Calliess, 2014; Berry,
1984). Behrens et al. (2014) found that integration seems to be a protective
and preventive resource even during times of extreme emotional distress.
An Evaluation of Multiculturalism in Canada
The multicultural policy was developed by the government
of Canada in the 1970’s (Berry, 1984). The goal of this policy is to increase
harmony between groups by supporting ethnic groups in developing their own
vibrant communities, and promoting reciprocal interaction and sharing between
various groups. It is also assumed that such developments will eventually lead
to more personal and collective confidence and consequently increased ethnic
tolerance (Berry, 1984).
As discussed earlier, research has shown that
integration, which involves holding on to one’s identity and also being in
interaction with the dominant society, has been shown to be better for the
mental health and well-being of individuals. The multicultural policy appears
to be promoting this style of acculturation. There is also support for the idea
that interaction between groups can reduce prejudice and stereotypes about
other (Pettigrew & Tropp, 2006). Onliner and Onliner (cited in Penner,
2013) found that many non-Jews who put themselves at great risk in order to save
Jews during the second world war had Jewish friends before the war and that
helped motivate them to help. The personal contact with Jews helped reduce the
effect of all the negative messages about Jews.
Even though, the principles of the multicultural policy
are generally theoretically and empirically supported (Berry, 1984), there have
been problems with putting these principles into practice. Part of the problem
is that policy of multiculturalism has not been really introduced to the public
well such that most people do not know about it. In fact, there is the
perception that multicultural programs are meant for the new immigrant visible
minorities, and multicultural discussions have not involved European background
Canadians and Aboriginal (Native) Canadians (Kunz & Sykes, 2016). This has
further increased the perception of visible minority immigrants as others.
Moreover, European or aboriginal descent Canadians are not included in the
multicultural debate. The roundtable, it was concluded that the idea of
multiculturalism needs to be introduced and European Canadians more engaged in
the debates.
The idea that multiculturalism is a framework for
establishing relationships between cultures within a single society is still
foreign (Kunz & Sykes, 2016). Based on the findings, there needs to be more
emphasis on people learning about each other’s cultures and creating more
opportunities for mutual interaction (Kunz & Sykes, 2016). Perhaps,
multicultural societies need to do more than just settlement work and create
cultural learning opportunities at schools or workplaces. Moreover, another
topic that has been largely neglected has been religion (Kunz & Sykes, 2016).
Religion has been mostly avoided in the multicultural policy debates, even
though religion and culture are interwoven. Research findings show that
Canadians have more mistrust towards religious differences than racial ethnic
differences (Penner, 2013).
So far, religious differences have not been the main focus of
multiculturalism (Kunz & Sykes, 2016).
One of the consequences of immigration and lack of proper
implementation of the multicultural policy is that all cultural or ethnic
groups have weak sense of belonging as compared to the British and Northern
European origin groups (Soroka, Johnston, & Banting, 2007), and this needs
to problems with national unity. The policy Research Institute of Canada (PRI)
as well as Department of Canadian Heritage, the Social Sciences and Humanities
Research Council of Canada, and the Metropolis Project have held roundtables in
eight cities of Canada in order to find out what changes need to be implemented
to promote diversity without divisiveness and to improve the multiculturalism
policies (Kunz & Sykes, 2016). Some of their recommendations include:
fostering mutual understanding through intercultural dialogue, and define the
concept of inclusive citizenship in the country, and having a better
understanding of people's understanding of multiculturalism in their daily
lives.
Theoretical Framework
According to the social identity theory, individuals make social
comparisons, and those who are viewed as similar to the self are categorized as
in-group and those who are viewed as different from the self are categorized as
out-group (Hogg & Abrams, 1988; Tajfel, 1982). This process involves
highlighting similarities and adopting style, attitudes, perspectives, beliefs,
values, and behaviors of the in-group (Hogg & Abrams, 1988; Tajfel, 1982). A
social identity is thus developed. Therefore, social identity can be defined as
identification with a social category or group (Hogg & Abrams, 1988). Ethnic
identity is a kind of social identity which is formed by the people of a specific
ethnic, racial, or cultural background.
The individual creates
divisions based on stereotypes about his/her ingroup and outgroup members
(Tajfel, 1982). Intergroup competition gets activated when the individual becomes
biased in favor of her ingroup and starts to raise the status of her ingroup to
the disadvantage of those considered outgroup. This process leads to ingroup favoritism
and negative attitudes towards outgroups (Hagendoorn 1995). All outgroups are
not perceived equally. Some groups are viewed as more different from the self
than others. Subsequently, outgroups are ranked in a hierarchical fashion
depending on such factors as ethnic, racial, and religious differences (Penner,
2013). In one study, it was found that moral differences and differences in
beliefs have been shown to lead to negative attitudes more than ethnic or
racial differences among college students (Haidt et al., 2013). Similarly results
of another study revealed that value diversity negatively impacted
satisfaction, desire to remain part of the group and led to more conflict at
the work place (Jehn et al., 1999). Therefore, it appears that religious and
belief differences are more likely to be a cause for intergroup distance and
discrimination (Penner, 2013).
Proposed Action
As explained earlier, social categorizations are done through
highlighting ingroup similarities and outgroup differences, and as a result
forming positive stereotypes about the ingroup and negative ones about others. Therefore,
in reality there is no uniformity among the members of each group. For example,
among the members of one ethnic group there may be people who are religious and
others who live secular lives. There can also be a lot of variation in terms of
values and norms within one particular community.
Past research has shown that certain conditions can help in reducing
discrimination and prejudice (Penner, 2013; Tajfel, 1982). Having common goals
to work towards can lead to increase in intergroup cooperation and decreased
discrimination (Tajfel, 1982). Another situation that can help in reduction of
prejudice is cross membership (Tajfel 1982). This can happen in intergroup
marriages, or any situation in which the individual is member of two or more
groups. Research findings indicate opportunities for contact with out-groups
can lead to increased trust towards them (Van der Meer & Tolsma, 2014). It
has also been found that intergroup intimacy and friendship can lead to
reduction in negative stereotypes and prejudice (Penner, 2013). However, it has
also been found that only contact under certain conditions can lead to decrease
in discrimination. Most importantly the contact has to be voluntary for it to
help in dispelling negative stereotypes. Secondly, the settings should not be
such that they activate negative stereotypes (Penner, 2013).
According to the symbolic interactionist theory society is made up
of organised and structured interactions between individuals (McClelland,
2000). Therefore, humans can be thought of as “pragmatic actors” who
continuously adjust their behaviors to others and construct their own reality
(McClelland, 2000). The intension behind my blog is to: 1) have discussions
about what living with diversity means and further explore the concept of
multiculturalism and 2) to mitigate the effect of negative stereotypes, prejudice
through increasing knowledge of members of various ethnic minorities by
creating opportunities to know each other and interact with each other, and
thereby co-create a new social reality in which there is more trust,
understanding, and inclusion. This can be done by sharing life stories and
experiences, information, and collective stories, along with historical and
cultural facts. Learning to appreciate the diversity that exists within each
group and learning about similarities between ingroups and outgroups can be
potential steps towards reducing the effect of stereotypes.
References
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