Diversity and intergroup contact in schools

Following Putnam’s (2007) provocative claim-that ethnic diversity has negative consequences for trust-scholars in numerous disciplines (especially political science, sociology, and belatedly social psychology) have debated, and investigated, the potential consequences of living in diverse settings (see Chapter 1, this volume, for the background to the debate). The vast majority of this debate has, however, focused on ethnic neighborhoods or cities. In this chapter we review results from our own research program on the impact of diversity in secondary schools, i.e., the social environment in which adolescents spend most of their waking hours. Much of this research was conducted in English schools, but our approach is far from parochial. We also report evidence from our research in Northern Ireland and other Western European countries (Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden).