Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination

1
Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination
Group Privilege People live in cultures Cultures
influence peoples behavior, attitudes, beliefs,
and other psychological characteristicsinclud
ing those related to prejudice and
discrimination. Unaware of cultural influences
as they grow up until something that draws
attention to aspect of their culture. Prejudice
and discrimination is expressed in through group
privilege.
2
Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination
Group Privilege White privilegeresearchers have
captured this fact of life. Members of ethnic
minority groups are well aware that even the
smallest everyday action can be affected by their
race. When individuals are part of the majority
their membership in the dominant group seems
normal and natural and is often taken for
granted.
3
Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination

• Group Privilege
• Unearned favored state conferred simply because
  of ones race, gender, or sexual
  orientation.
• Concept of group privilege is that there is a
  corollary (consequence) to discrimination or
  undeserved negative treatment based on ones
  group membership.

4
Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination
Group Privilege Examples Advantages granted to
people simply because they belong to a particular
groupand that these advantages are
unearned Advantages are based not on ability,
effort, or past success but rather on membership
in the privileged group
5
Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination
Group Privilege Alvin Poussaint, a noted Harvard
psychiatrist, refers to the impact of privilege
on the unprivileged as Death by a thousand
nick Privilege associated with group membership
are not limited to race, for example they can be
sex and age related.
6
Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination
Group Privilege These kinds of privileges make it
easy for whites to see racism as a problem that
belongs to --people of color, --for
heterosexuals to see anti-gay prejudice as a
problem that belongs to lesbians and gay men,
or --for men to see sexism as a womens
problem. Attitude developed is that prejudice
and discrimination are someone elses problem, so
members of the privileged groups do not have to
do anything about them.
7
Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination
Group Privilege Privilege perspective Two
sides of the coin the disadvantages of
experiencing prejudice and discrimination and the
advantages of unearned privileges.
8
Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination
Theories of Prejudice and Discrimination Understa
nd why humans behave in biased ways Social
scientist have not yet developed a theory that
pulls it all together to explain the phenomenon
9
Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination

• Theories of Prejudice and Discrimination
• Scientific Racism
• Psychodynamic Theory
• Authoritarian-personality
• Cognitive Theory
• Evolutionary Theory

10
Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination
Theories of Prejudice and Discrimination Scientif
ic RacismPrior to the 1920s North American and
European social scientist agreed that Whites were
superior to people of color. (e.i. is the
researcher that demonstrate that whites were
more intelligent than blacks.) This is now
known as scientific racism Prejudice was viewed
as a natural response to backward peoples-- a
social problem Slavery justified notion slaves
were a lesser class of human beings
11
Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination
Theories of Prejudice and Discrimination Psychody
namic TheoryAfter 1920-30 a political change
occurred due to the influx of immigration into
the U.S and a Black civil rights movement that
challenged White social dominance. Social
scientist began to question prejudice notions a
natural and normal, moving instead to a
perspective that prejudice is a social problem
stemming from irrational and unjustifiable
beliefs and behaviors.
12
Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination
Theories of Prejudice and Discrimination Psychody
namic Theory Measures of prejudicial attitudes
and beliefs were employedThurstsone and Likert
attitude scales Katz and Braly stereotype
checklist, and public opinion polls Defense
mechanism-people acted out their frustrations in
the form of hostility and aggression directed
towards ethnic minority groups Scapegoatingsymbol
ically transferring negative behaviors onto
others, resulted when chronic social frustration
was displaced onto ethnic minorities.
13
Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination
Theories of Prejudice and Discrimination Authorit
arian-personalitypeople with authoritarian
personality prone to believe and do whatever
authority figures told them, including treating
members of derogated groups with
contempt. Right-wing authoritarianism Prejudice
is motivationally based and serves to strengthen
ones personal identity and self-esteem
Sociocultural Theory-raised point of view from
the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s,
racism came to be seen as a cultural norm and one
that was not easily eradicated. Culture provides
stereotypes and that the patterns of these
stereotypes are consistently linked to prejudice
across time and region of the country.
14
Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination
Two major models underlying Authoritarian-personal
ity perspective Structural-functionalist
viewsociety is characterized as seeking
conformity to social norms including the proper
attitudes and beliefs people should hold with
little individual deviation in the pattern
accepted within the society. Conflict
perspectiveputs forth the notion that society is
comprised of groups with different values and
interest and that individuals adopt the viewpoint
of their particular subgroupsSocial role
theory Intergroup Relations Theory1960 evolved
into an intergroup relations Prejudice derives
from perceptions of competition with other
groups perspective Relative deprivation theory
holds that prejudice results from the resentment
people feel when they believe that their group
has been deprived of some resource that another
group receives
15
Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination

• Evolutionary Theoryis a ways of explaining
  universal process underlying prejudice and
  discrimination
• People evolved a suspicion and fear of strangers
  as a way to protect themselves and their
  communities from possible harm by out-siders
• Kin favoritism
• Ethnocentrism- seeing ones group as better than
  the otherfavoritism towards one own groups

16
Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination

• Targets of Prejudice
• Race and Ethnicity
• Religion
• Gender and Sexual Orientation
• Age, Ability, and Appearance

17
(No Transcript)