Prejudice and Discrimination

1
Prejudice and Discrimination

• Lecture 7

2
Prejudice vs. Discrimination

• Prejudice- thinking ill of others without
  sufficient warrant (judgement made prior to
  knowledge or experience)
• Ethnocentrism- view of things in which ones own
  group is the center of everything, and all others
  are scaled and rated with reference to it.
• Stereotype- an overgeneralization associated with
  a racial or ethnic category that goes beyond
  existing evidence
• Discrimination - actions carried out by members
  of dominant groups that have a differential
  harmful impact on members of subordinate groups

3
Discrimination is Action

• VERBALIZATION
• JOKES, COMMENTS, RACIAL SLURS
• EXCLUSION
• KEEPING PEOPLE MARGINAL
• AVOIDANCE
• NOT TRAVELING IN CERTAIN AREAS
• PHYSICAL ABUSE
• PHYSICAL ATTACKS
• GENOCIDE
• SYSTEMATIC KILLING OFF OF A GROUP

4
Robert Mertons Typology of Relationships between
Prejudice and Discrimination
DISCRIMINATES?
YES
NO
FAIR- WEATHER LIBERAL
ALL- WEATHER LIBERAL
NO
PREJUDICE?
ACTIVE BIGOT
TIMID BIGOT
YES
5
Allports Levels of Discrimination
Antilocution(speaking against)
Extermination
6
Levels at Which Discrimination Takes Place

• Isolate- actions taken alone
• Small-group- (without support of norms and most
  dominant group member)
• Direct Institutionalized- organizationally or
  community-prescribed
• Indirect Institutionalized- no overt intent to
  harm, yet harmful

7
Types of Discrimination

• Subtle discrimination-such as internal and
  external attribution errors
• Covert discrimination-intentionally, includes
  tokenism etc.
• Blatant- outwardly expressed ie racial slurs
• Location Matters (private, moderately protected
  site, public)

8
Types of Discrimination II

• Cumulative Impact of Systematic Discrimination-
  to outsider may seem like an individual is
  over-reacting
• Reverse Discrimination- discrimination against
  dominant groups by subordinate groups

9
TWO KEY AREAS 1) ENHANCE THE EDUCATIONAL
PROCESS 2) INCREASE MEANINGFUL SOCIAL
CONTACT

• EDUCATION
• MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION
• LEARN TO APPRECIATE DIVERSITY
• MEANINGFUL CONTACT
• DESIRE TO CHANGE
• HONEST, SELF-CRITIQUE OF LIFESTYLE
• PLAN FOR INCREASING SOCIAL CONTACT