A Walk for Hope

With the continued rise in opioid overdoses in Worcester, in addition to gang related activity, I thought it would be appropriate to discuss the means to which we can cease and change such behaviors. Or, in other words, discuss ways in which we can end negative and destructive behaviors and preach acceptance towards those who wish for a new life. In an article posted in the Worcester Telegram last Saturday, September 26, 2015, there was a multitude of individuals that came together to eradicate the city’s gang problem.

Interestingly enough, individuals of the community, local churches, recovering addicts, and even former gang members themselves, gathered together in union with each other to address and attempt to spark change in the rising gang epidemic in Worcester. Participants marched through violent and troubled areas of the city, through Main Street down to Webster Square and onto Charlton Street. During this march, thirty plus individuals were accompanied by two very interesting figures. First was a hearse carrying a casket, whose occupant was a mannequin with a mirror as a face. Second, was a man dressed in an embalmer's uniform pushing a gurney. These symbolic items were put in place to elicit an emotional response, from those living throughout Main South and all of Worcester County.

Paul Kapteyn. (Gatehouse Media, Inc. 2015, ). Worcester Telegram

Individuals walked in hopes to culminate movement and change amongst gang violence occurring across their community. Moreover, these participants hoped to bring the light and hope of Christ into the lives of those in need, namely gang members. In doing so, participants hoped to show gang members a life free from criminal, violent, and immoral decisions. While this idea of changing an individual’s life around is seemingly positive, conversely, it too projects difficulty as well.

In a society in which judgments are made so automatically, we must now try to understand what automatic thinking and stereotypes are. To begin, automatic thinking is defined as thoughts that are often unconscious, inadvertent, compulsory and effortless. For instance, consider blinking. It is an automatic action that your body completes subconsciously. Conversely, think about writing a paper for your psychology class. That, on the other hand, is an action called a controlled response, in which you have to ruminate, focus, and consciously think about in order to complete. A stereotype is defined as a schema (or a mental construct in which we organize our knowledge regarding the social world) that one has towards an individual. For instance, let us discuss the situation regarding gang members of Worcester County. Individuals who have tattoos, piercings, and other physical additions to their person will be deemed as non-acceptable members of society. Why is this? Our culture has constructed what is disrespectful and unacceptable. Individuals who are abiding by these cultural norms of our community, then make an automatic response and stereotype towards these gang members based on their inability to abide by these unwritten, seemingly invisible, yet strictly enforced rules. This, therefore will make it very difficult for the gang members to reassemble into society in a manner that is appropriate for the members of the community.

In a study conduced by three researchers, the power of stereotyping is uncovered. In this study the researchers analyzed 34 participants from an introductory psychology class. The researchers created 240 sets of words: for example, (black-mundane) (black-poor) (black-charming). Some pairs were used partially as a parallel to the biases that lay inherent in our culture, while others were merely non-social and were thrown into the mix for neutrality. Participants would then click buttons (as fast as possible) with a response to the combination of words: for example, negative or positive. The results of this study tell us that the racist aspect of almost every human being is partially a reproduction of our culture.

With this study in mind, judgments that are made in an automatic way, specifically, with regards to individuals, can get problematic. Those who are attempting to change their life and move away from gang life find that they’re being judged based on their appearance rather than their drive for a better, more meaningful life. With a mentality like this, why try to better yourself? We must work towards being aware of our automatic responses, our stereotypes, and our culture around us. In doing so, we can work to help those members of our society that need us most.

Posted by: Emilia A. Froio

Verhaeghen, P., Aikman, S. N., & Van Gulick, A. E. (2011). Prime and prejudice: Co-occurrence in the culture as a source of automatic stereotype priming. British Journal Of Social Psychology, 50(3), 501-518. doi:10.1348/014466610X524254