Maras, Pamela F. and Brown, Rupert (2000) Effects of different forms of school contact on children’s attitudes toward disabled and non-disabled peers. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 70 (3). pp. 337-351. ISSN 0007-0998

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Abstract

Background. There have been fluctuations in research interest into the
inclusion of children with disabilities in mainstream schools over the last
twenty years. It is still not clear what methods, practices and types of contact
are most likely to promote positive attitudes in children toward disabled peers
and disability generally.
Aims. To consider two theoretical models of inter-group contact, both
claiming to identify precursors for generalised attitude change, in relation to
the attitudes of non-disabled children toward disabled peers as a function of
different classroom contact.
Sample. Participants were 256 non-disabled school children aged 5± 11 years
(128 girls and 128 boys).
Methods. Measures of sociometric preference and the evaluation of
psychological and physical attributes were used to ascertain children’s
perceptions of known and unknown peers with disabilities.
Results. A relationship was found between the type of contact the children had
with disabled peers, and their perceptions of psychological and physical
attributes (stereotypes) of groups of unknown disabled and non-disabled
peers.
Conclusions. Results show generalisation of stereotypic attitude/judgments
from one type of disability to another as a consequence of the two types of
contact situation. Findings have important implications for integrating
disabled children into mainstream.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	school children, disability, disabled, non-disabled, peers, inclusion, attitudes
Related URLs:	Publisher Organisation
Last Modified:	07 Oct 2019 14:47
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/3254

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