CHAPTER XX
INTERACTION BETWEEN SOCIAL STRUCTURES AND WORLDS OF MEANING:
CONTEMPORARY TYPIFICATION - THE WORLD OF SCHOOLING
20.1 Introduction
Theoretical area llɪ was categorised as encompassing
interaction between typifications as social structures, and worlds
of meaning,
t ♦ ∙ *
fl
■ It was posited that identity is a function of the interaction
between social structures and worlds of meaning.
There will now be an examination of contemporary typifications
of Aboriginal people by Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students in
the sub-structure of the school, and of the symmetry or asymmetry
between the typification of Aborigines by students from mainstream
society, and the typification of Aborigines by Aborigines.
In seeking to establish the ’world* of contemporary urban
Aborigines the following questions must be asked with reference
to stereotyping and Aboriginal identity:
Are negative typifications of Aborigines found in
the contemporary symbolic universe of the dominant
group? In particular, are they held by a new
generation still in the educational system? Have
Aboriginal people internalized the negative
typifications imposed on them? In particular are
these typifications internalized by a new generation,
those still within the educational system?
20.2 Stereotyping in research literature
Stereotyping was first used as a methodology for examining
attitudes towards minority groups rejected by mainstream society
(initially negro groups and later Irish and Italian groups in the
See p. 44 above.