Psychodynamic and social processes involved in prejudice: The case of the town of Orania in South Africa

The aim of the chapter, in addition to presenting a theoretical conceptualization that makes use of both the psychodynamic and social processes involved in prejudice, is to make use of the case of the town of Orania in South Africa to illustrate such processes. As a way of extending what is already known about prejudice, some additional proposals have been made by the author. These are; 1) Fundamentally, prejudice separates: it prefers sameness as opposed to difference, 2) In terms of linking Attachment theory to prejudice, patterns of attachment may be approached as being located along a continuum from dependency / identification to over-dependency / overidentification, 3) This attachment to sameness is an attitude towards difference, and by implication, it is difference that defines sameness for without difference, sameness has no meaning, 4) Prejudice is not only a matter of self-categorization but is a psychological act which reinforces the social sameness of the in-group and difference of the out-group, 5) Selfdefinition is a developmental process of defining what is the same and what is not, and thus the process of self-definition is in itself an act of prejudice. Linked to this, the recognition of difference is an act of self-definition, 6) In terms of the social processes involved in prejudice; the term selfgroup is introduced to illustrate the psychological merger of the self with the group. This selfgroup merger forms an on-going psychological state which I call social undifferentiation and is an example of a what I term a groupencapsulated self, 7) The shift away from the family is a furthering of the individuation process in that the adolescent undergoes a differentiation process not between self-mother but between self-family, and this may mean that the individuation process is a process of prejudice, 8) Hatred against the out-group can be understood as a defence against loss of self-definition, and finally, 9) The rare regret some individuals or groups show for their prejudice is done from the position of the Depressive Position.