Part of the ACT/ RFT movement is a "grand vision" to affect positive change on the culture more generally. Groups and organizations engage in practices that harm individuals, families, and the environment, yet there is little scientific understanding of how to bring about changes in these practices. A number of professionals throughout the world are conducting research on such topics as stigma, prejudice, prevention, advertising, child rearing, and environmental preservation among other important issues. Here is where you will find information on specific applications of ACT to cultural issues with links to relevant researchers and studies.
Despite decades of social concern, racial, ethnic, and religious prejudice persists. Few cultural issues seem more important than figuring out why people hate and how to reduce discriminatory and violent behavior due to prejudice. It seems our survival may depend on our ability as human beings to solve this issue. ACT/ RFT is relevant not just to the needs of the victims of prejudice, discrimination, and terrorism, but also to the understanding and modification of psychological processes that lead to the perpetration of hateful and discriminatory acts.
From an ACT/ RFT perspective, prejudice can be defined as the objectification and dehumanization of human beings because of their participation in verbal evaluative categories. Prejudice, defined this way, is a kind of verbal entanglement. It is difficult to avoid because some of the same cognitive processes that permit problem-solving also seem to foster prejudice. In addition, may of the things humans do to try and change or eliminate prejudice are either inert or prone to making these processes more resistant to change. Indeed, validated methods for reducing prejudice are very limited.
In this section are links to two papers. One is a conceptual paper describing prejudice/ terrorism from an ACT/ RFT perspective. The other is a link to a pilot study using ACT to reduce prejudice among college students.
Updates will soon follow.