Jackie Carter
December 13, 2012
Paper 3: Wheeler

Use of Social Psychology Theories to Understand Racism and Marginalization in In Search of Respect

In the book, In Search of Respect, Philippe Bourgois conveys the “individual experience of social structural oppression” of the second and third generation immigrants living in East Harlem (Bourgois 2006: 15). He conducted a participant-observer study of the ethnic groups living in El Barrio primarily focusing on Puerto Ricans. He discusses East Harlem’s cultural history emphasizing the racial tension that still exists today. Bourgois notes the street culture associated with residents in El Barrio, “In this particular case of the United States, the concentration of socially marginalized populations into politically and ecologically isolated inner-city enclaves has fomented an especially explosive cultural creativity that is in defiance of racism and economic marginalization” (Bourgois 2006: 8). By using social psychology to describe racism and marginalization, one can see that psychological theories can be used to explain the racial tension, substance abuse, and frustration with mainstream society of the people who live in El Barrio. Social marginalization prevented many immigrants from engaging in normal activities within the society they live. Prior to the Puerto Rican invasion of El Barrio in the 1930’s and 1940’s, Italians immigrated to America and lived in El Barrio. El Barrio has always been stigmatized, “the streets of East Harlem have always produced violent, substance-abusing felons no matter what immigrant ethnic group happened to be living there at the time” (Bourgois 2006: 55). When the Italians moved in, “competition for jobs and housing expressed itself in extreme ethnic segregation” (Bourgois 2006: 57). When the Italians moved in, they made jobs and housing scarcer causing the ethnic groups already residing there to feel hostility toward the Italians. According to the realistic group conflict theory, a scarcity of resources leads to competition and hostility between groups (Sanderson 2010: 337). The Italians were not allowed to sit in Church with the Germans and Irish Catholics. Instead they were forced to sit in the basement of the church. Finally in 1919, they were allowed to freely mingle with the other people in the parish (Bourgois 2006: 58). However, the Italians were still being discriminated against due to social influences on stereotypes. Once there is a belief about a consensus, thinking others have similar prejudices, a false reassurance makes the attitude seem socially acceptable (Sanderson 2010: 333). Therefore, discriminating against the Italians seemed socially acceptable. Even schoolteachers, who are considered “representatives from mainstream society who were supposed to be assimilating the immigrant children into Anglo-American culture,” were making discriminatory reports. They reported, “Italians are not eager to learn … they are very slow” (Bourgois 2006: 58). Even social science researchers, who were supposed to be unbiased toward stereotypes, showed hostility. In one social science researchers report, he wrote, “There is much delinquency and there are many feeble-minded and morons in the neighborhood.” During this time, being “Italian” meant they were inferior (Bourgois 2006: 59). Once Puerto Rican immigrants entered the neighborhood, they received the same discriminatory welcome. They were strongly disliked, “It was the new Puerto Rican immigrants who generated the most antipathy on the part of mainstream society.” They were the poorest ethnic group and many of their children were suffering from malnutrition. Racism was even reflected in their health reports, “Their health problems were, of course, expressed in a racist idiom.” Dr. Emerson, an expert on tropical diseases, reported, “that every Porto Rican has within him germs of tropical diseases, venereal disease and those which are looked on as minor ‘dirt diseases’ [sic]” (Bourgois 2006: 61). This tendency that classifies all Puerto Ricans into a group and says each individual within the group is the same (all carrying tropical diseases) is called social categorization (Sanderson 2010: 334). Every new ethnic group that moved in became a victim of prejudices and discrimination from society. Puerto Ricans became inferior to the Italians. Racial tension between the two groups caused Italians to undermine the Puerto Ricans. The Italians demonstrated the social identity theory; they identified themselves into one group and compared themselves to another, the Puerto Ricans. By doing this they influence their own self-worth by putting another group down. It leads to in-group pride and out-group hostility and derogation (Sanderson 2010: 338). They began saying things like, Puerto Ricans brought “low morals and low standards of living” (Bourgois 2006: 62). Finally the heat was off the Italians so they conformed to society and made the Puerto Ricans look like the weaker race. Even more social categorizations were made, a popular guidebook in the post World War II period claimed:
Puerto Ricans were not born to be New Yorkers. They are mostly crude farmers subject to congenital tropical diseases, physically unfitted for the northern climate, unskilled, uneducated, non-English speaking, and almost impossible to assimilate and condition for healthful and useful existence in an active city of stone and steel.
… The Puerto Ricans all look alike, their names all sound alike and if an inspector calls in one of the swarming flats in the teeming tenements, nobody speaks English.
… Not only are many of these Puerto Ricans on relief {welfare} within an hour after their feet land on a dock or a secondary airport, but some are already booked on the dole in advance, while they are in the air or on the water. (Bourgois 2006: 62)

This discriminatory guidebook demonstrates out-group homogeneity effect. This is the idea that “they are all alike, we are all different” (Sanderson 2010: 335). They do not distinguish between individual Puerto Ricans. Instead they lump them together as if they all share the same characteristics and traits. When they claim, “Puerto Ricans all look alike,” they also show the cross race effect. It is easier to recognize faces of ones own group compared to an out-group. This shows a bias to ones own race (Sanderson 2010: 359). The racial tension continued between different ethnic groups. In the 1940’s, “the community was experiencing three-way race riots: African-American versus Italian-American versus Puerto Rican” (Bourgois 2006: 61).
Regardless of race, East Harlem was noted “one of the worst districts in the city.” However it was race and discrimination that caused this intense poverty. The neighborhood was described physically as “congested and filthy.” While the people were described as poverty stricken, “About one-half of the residents in the neighborhood may be classed as poor, and the other half as very poor” (Bourgois 2006: 63). Social workers reported, “Basic requirements for even minimal living {are} lacking...” (Bourgois 2006: 65). In most cases, their living conditions were not their fault. Social marginalization prevented the people living in El Barrio from gaining access to higher paying jobs, which in turn, would increase their living conditions. Social workers continued on saying, “I feel sorriest for the little kids – they’ve never known what a decent neighborhood is like!” (Bourgois 2006: 53). These children were denied a typical upbringing in a safer neighborhood. They are learning that the living conditions they live in are normal.
During the 1940’s and 1950’s most Puerto Rican immigrants worked in manufacturing jobs. However, service jobs began replacing manufacturing jobs. In the late 1960’s, “almost half a million factory workers lost their jobs as manufacturing employment dropped by 50 percent in New York City” (Bourgois 2006: 51). This hurt resident’s in El Barrio who relied on factory work, “Economists and sociologists have documented statistically that restructuring of the U.S. economy around service jobs has resulted in unemployment, income reduction, weaker unions, and dramatic erosions in worker’s benefits at the entry level” (Bourgois 2006: 114). Many people in El Barrio had expected to work in a factory job. However, when service jobs began replacing factory jobs they found themselves lacking the proper skills for service jobs. Because of their lack of skills and inadequate education, most people could only obtain minimum wage jobs. However, the paychecks that came did little to support their families. Therefore, many people took to the underground economy in order to escape from the economic struggle that comes with legal minimum wage jobs. In Bourgois’ ethnographic study, he focused on crack dealers. Crack dealers make a percentage of how much they sell. Their pay is extremely inconsistent and can be affected by police raids. Dealers have a tendency to only remember the nights when they made ten times minimum wage (Bourgois 2006: 92).
One man Bourgois befriended during his ethnography was Primo. He worked in the game room selling crack but openly admitted he would like to join the legal economy (Bourgois 2006: 97). However, “The problem on the relationship of the crack dealers to the legal market – is that Primo’s good intentions do not lead anywhere when the only legal jobs he can compete for fail to provide him with a livable wage” (Bourgois 2006: 98). Furthermore, “The working-class jobs they manage to find are objectively recognized to be among the least desirable in U.S. society.” It was hard for them to take their jobs seriously when they were getting paid very little to do something so undesirable. Normally, they ended up getting fired shortly after being hired. While some people, similar to Primo, would like to join the legal labor market, others would not. They believe finding a legal job goes against their own personal dignity. Bourgois states, “Obedience to the norms of high-rise, office-corridor culture is in direct contradiction to street cultures definition’s of personal dignity –especially for males who are socialized not to accept public subordination.” This pride is also a reason why many rely on the underground economy; “A straightforward refusal to be exploited in the legal labor market pushes them into the crack economy and into substance abuse” (Bourgois 2006: 115). While this could be because of too much pride, it may also be fear of a stereotype threat. A stereotype threat is when knowledge or awareness of a negative stereotype impairs an individual’s performance on a task in that domain. There is a fear of fulfilling the negative stereotype therefore individuals may avoid the task all together (Sanderson 2010: 349). Some people avoid entering the legal labor market out of fear of living up to what society believes is their negative stereotype.
In late 1989, Primo actively attempted to join the legal labor market but there was a recession. He went into the market extremely confident, declaring, “any asshole can find a job out there.” However, when employers could not hire him, he blamed it on his employment counselor rather than the recession. After not being hired, his self-confidence deteriorated and he turned to drugs. “He was living in flesh and blood the sense of personal powerlessness that impersonal market forces of supply and demand impose on vulnerable laborers during recessions” (Bourgois 2006: 120). Primo soon realized he was only getting older and potential employers would question why he has not worked in years. He felt there was little he could do, “Primo internalized his structural marginalization. He panicked and spiraled into a psychological depression” (Bourgois 2006: 121). Rejection leads to decreases in self-esteem and self-regulatory abilities. It also increases stress and anxiety levels while also activating areas of the brain associated with conflict and pain (Sanderson 2010: 352). Things did not get better for Primo. He and his girlfriend, Maria, were evicted because they could not pay their rent (Bourgois 2006: 123). Primo resorted to alcohol, drugs, and violence. He “lashed out at the one person he had power over, his girlfriend, Maria” (Bourgois 2006: 124). According to the frustration-aggression hypothesis, frustration always leads to aggression. Another predictor of aggression is income. Aggression is higher in people with lower incomes (Sanderson 2010: 386). Therefore Primo’s frustration with the legal job market and getting evicted led him to be aggressive toward Maria. * Primo eventually was hired with a nighttime janitorial services company. He noted that most of his co-workers were immigrants. After working there for two and a half months the workers were allowed to join the union. However, Primo was laid off two weeks before he would be able to join the union. Mexican’s had recently immigrated to El Barrio and therefore became Primo’s scapegoat for why he was laid off. With the Mexican immigration, history began to repeat itself when the Puerto Ricans detested their arrival (Bourgois 2006: 166). The Mexican immigrants received the same treatment that the Italians and Puerto Ricans had generations before. Several men in Primo’s network “were arrested for mugging, stabbing, and, in one fatal case, shooting their new Mexican neighbors” (Bourgois 2006: 167). “The violence and racist tensions of the 1990s between young, unemployed New York—born Puerto Ricans and the new immigrants ‘invading’ their neighborhoods and labor markets is the human underside to the latest phase in the restructuring of New York’s economy.” During the 1980’s, “the real value of the minimum wage declined by one-third.” At the same time, New York City’s budget from the federal government was cut in half. Normally this would result in a crisis in the entry-level labor force. But the Mexican immigrants were willing to work cheaply in exploitative working conditions and therefore took the few jobs available (Bourgois 2006: 169). Once again the Puerto Ricans living in El Barrio were left with even scarcer job opportunities. The realistic group conflict theory is often fueled by relative deprivation. This is the feeling that one group is disadvantaged compared to another group which causes feelings of conflict (Sanderson 2010: 338). In this case, the Puerto Ricans felt as if they were at a disadvantage in the legal job market now that the Mexican’s moved in, resulting in conflict. This vicious cycle of exploitation of new immigrants has continued for generations. Generation after generation, the children in El Barrio learn from the attitudes and prejudices of their parents. Eventually growing up to emulate them.
Societies such as El Barrio need to focus on education during early childhood. Young children need to learn how to deviate from the social norm that has been deemed for their race and class standing. According to the social learning theory, children learn by observing and replicating the behaviors of the people around them, especially their parents (Sanderson 2010: 332). The children in El Barrio who observed their father beating their mother, selling drugs, disappearing for long periods of time, and continually failing in the legal labor market learn that this is normal. Many times they grow up to do the same thing. Between this and the cultural production theory, there is little hope that children will grow up, go to college, and get a decent job. The cultural production theory is: The way teachers unconsciously process subliminal class and cultural messages to hierarchize their students. Tangible markers like accent and clothing combine with subtler forms of expression such as eye contact, body language, play styles, and attention spans to persuade the agents of a mainstream, middle-class, white-dominated bureaucracy that a particular child is a disciplinary problem, emotionally disturbed, or of low intelligence. (Bourgois 2006: 176)

Primo recalls his elementary school days. He was a victim of the unconscious process of the cultural production theory. “Primo’s future career in the underground economy was also established – or learned – at school” (Bourgois 2006: 191). In middle school, he would hang out in the basement of the school, smoking and selling pot (Bourgois 2006: 192). School was not the only institution “pushing marginal children into street culture and the underground economy.” Most dealers blamed their peer group (Bourgois 2006: 194). Parents are not the only people children can learn attitudes from, “we often look at our peers for guidance in forming our own attitudes and behaviors.” Social learning can also come from peers (Sanderson 2010: 333). Primo recalled spending no time in class and instead spent the school day learning about how to be a dealer. Older peer groups assimilated him into street crime (Bourgois 2006: 194). At a young age Primo engaged in illegal acts, “There was a powerful economic imperative coupled with a gender-based definition of dignified male adolescent behavior, that propelled him into petty crime before he was even a teenager (Bourgois 2006: 196). As a rite of passage, Primo would steal car radios from luxury cars parked in subtle places around the Upper East Side (Bourgois 2006: 195). They felt the Upper East Side wealthy white population was privileged, having a special advantage, right, or benefit granted by a group or individual based on group membership (Sanderson 2010: 332). For many immigrants in El Barrio, “individuals who have been marginalized socially, economically, and culturally have had negative long-term relationships with mainstream society” (Bourgois 2006: 12). Their phases of unsuccessful trial runs in the legal job market lead them to drugs and violence in a never-ending cruel cycle. While the racism throughout In Search of Respect is in part due to individual ignorance, it is also a direct result of social psychology. There are psychological theories and explanations as to why racism persists. It does not help to suppress prejudices, when people try to suppress stereotypes and prejudices it leads them to show more racism later (Sanderson 2010: 360). Likewise, “Stereotypes are activated automatically and without conscious awareness, even among people who describe themselves as non-prejudiced” (Sanderson 2010: 358). Therefore, unfortunately racism and social marginalization are a way of American life that hopefully will begin to disappear over time.

Bibliography

Bourgois, Philippe 2006 In Search of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio. Cambridge University Press: New York, New York

Sanderson, A. Catherine 2010 Social Psychology. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.: Hoboken, New Jersey.