The challenge
Repeated Christian–Muslim riots and deep religious division in Kaduna city.
The case
Kaduna has seen deadly Christian–Muslim riots since 2000. Researchers Alexandra Scacco and Shana Warren, with local NGO Community Action for Popular Participation, ran the Urban Youth Vocational Training program, enrolling 849 randomly sampled Christian and Muslim young men. Participants were randomly assigned to a mixed class, a single-faith class, or no course, and studied together for sixteen weeks. Afterward, there was no change in prejudice on surveys. But in behavioral games, men from mixed classes discriminated significantly less against the other religion than men from single-faith classes. The gap came mainly from single-faith classes, whose members discriminated more than men who took no course at all.
Why the results were mixed
Contact around a shared practical goal can curb discriminatory behavior even when stated attitudes do not move, and segregated programs can make things worse.
Sources
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