A study of an interracial neighbourhood in the south of Johannesburg, South Africa.
Date
2010-06-01T09:20:28Z
Authors
Mc Nally, Melissa Louise
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Abstract
The study of contact and desegregation in post apartheid South Africa has not received adequate attention
(Durrheim & Dixon, 2005b). Mondeor, a previously White populated suburb in the South of Johannesburg
has been identified as being a racially diverse neighbourhood . By focusing on this suburb, the current study
investigated whether or not residents interacted or mixed with members from other race groups and whether
or not increased contact with members of different race groups in a residential neighbourhood would
promote positive intergroup attitudes. Zones were identified for the purpose of this study whereby each
Zone was predominantly comprised of a specific race group. Quantitative data was collected by means of
distributing an intergroup attitude and contact questionnaire to the residents according to the zones in
which they resided. A sample of N=197 respondents was obtained. The results indicated that there was
generally no significant difference in contact for the Zones (racially exclusive zones and racially mixed
zones), however, significant differences existed in levels of contact for the various race groups. In addition
to this it was found that significant differences in contact existed for the various education levels of the
respondents. As expected, a significant negative relationship (r = -0.16) was found to exist between contact
and affective prejudice. In addition to these results, significant relationships were found to exist between
affective prejudice and the following variables: Intergroup anxiety (r=0.37), and social distance (r=0.27).
In conclusion, it was found that residents were not mixing as much as what was envisaged for a racially
mixed neighbourhood. In addition to this, contact in and of itself was not found to be a predictive measure
for affective prejudice. Thus, this finding lends support to Allport’s contact hypothesis making it clear that it
is imperative to examine the nature of the contact as this may be pertinent in the promotion of the reduction
of affective prejudice in intergroup contact situations.
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Keywords
Intergroup relations, Desegregation, Segregation, Contact hypothesis, Social identity, Residential integration, Mixed areas, Intergroup anxiety, Affective prejudice