The “Enemy” Image in Israeli-Arab Children

Childhood is an important period for shaping individuals‘ social understanding. Previous studies conducted on children raised in conflict regions have shown that an understanding of enemy is well related to age and gender differences. The aim of the current study was to explore children‘s understanding and conceptualization of ―enemy‖ who live with a ―real enemy‖. In addition, it aimed to investigate age and gender differences, further to compare the intergroup contact of children who study in single-ethnic school to those studying in mixed-ethnic school. Sixty two Israeli-Arab children‘s ―enemy‖ conceptualization and ―enemy‖ images were assessed using contact questionnaire, a free association task, a drawing task, and an enemy questionnaire. The results suggested that generally, Israeli-Arab children were able to define and conceptualize concrete representations of the enemy, which change across age. With age, children perceived an enemy more with ethnic and political characteristics, such as Jewish nation. As in the literature, boys made more reference to the physical violence of an enemy compared to girls. Lastly, children in mixed-ethnic school reported more positive relationship and attitudes, and associated less negative enemy traits to outgroup members. The effect of being raised in conflictual environment and war are discussed. Keywords: enemy, enemy images, Israeli-Arab, contact, children