Social-Psychological Processes That Perpetuate Racial Segregation

A few diverse studies show that racial segregation tends to be perpetuated over stages of the life cycle and across institutional settings (Braddock, 1980; Braddock and McPartland, 1982; Crain, 1970; McPartland and Crain, 1980; McPartland and Braddock, 1981; U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, 1967: App. C5). Blacks who grow up in a largely segregated environment are more likely to lead their adult lives in segregated situations. And, at any given age, Blacks who are segregated in one institutional sphere-be it in education, residential location, employment, or informal social contacts-are also likely to have mostly segregated experiences in other institutional environments.