Category: Prejudice

Prejudice refers to a personal or a group judgment of other people in society according to their race, color, tribe and gender. Prejudice also refers to stereotyping of other people as whites, blacks and colored in relation to their origin. Prejudices refer to biases or false evidence made by people unconsciously about other people in society.

Prejudice in society contributes to racial, gender, and physical discrimination because of diversity of culture in the world. People in the society need to understand prejudice is not an answer to their racial differences. Therefore, they should learn to live with one another without discrimination.

Prejudice is a Pre-judgment of others without concrete evidence about the individual because of bias. Prejudice contributes to racial discrimination of people in society by others. This means an individual prejudges another as black or white, and feels superior over the other racial group. Sociological or psychological perspective explains prejudice in society on the basis of how it occurs in individuals. Individuals in society need to discourage prejudice to enhance harmony in the community.

Prejudice exists in a sense of group position in society due to a collective process where members influence other members to believe in a common stereotype about others. Race prejudice occurs in shifts, meaning it focuses on a group that defines stereotype of other people rather than individuals.

Individuals identify themselves with a certain racial group thus creating a stereotype of other people in other racial group. Therefore, race prejudice starts with individuals identifying themselves with a certain racial group that they feel comfortable to join. This process of individuals identifying themselves with a certain racial group refers to a collective process that occurs through communal media.

Race prejudice reflects on four feeling of a group that is; a group might feel to be superior, alien or different, privileged, and fear that the other group may take over them if they are not keen. These feelings occur due to the collective process that a group identify themselves with in their lifetime and distinguish themselves away from others.

Cultural groups are different from others in language, clothing, food and economic activities making them feel superior to others thus creating racial discrimination. A racial group might feel privileged than others when they have control of large portions of land, wealth and business than the other group, thus promoting the spirit of superiority over the minority group. Therefore, the sense of a group position acts as a guideline that coerces, incites and cows a group to be racial.

Prejudice is a state of the mind of individuals towards others in society meaning what they think about others is what they believe them to be. There are two types of prejudice, namely, implicit and explicit: explicit prejudices refer to a negative attitude of an individual that is conscious against other people.

Explicit prejudice reflects through introspection meaning individuals answer questions about other racial groups to know their stand on prejudice. Implicit prejudices refer to unconscious influence of the mind towards other people in society. Measurement of implicit prejudice requires cognitive tasks rather than introspection in explicit prejudice.

Implicit prejudice envisages discriminatory deeds such as unfriendly nonverbal actions in an interaction. Individuals may use social impressions to judge others to communicate an implicit prejudice. Therefore, implicit prejudice is more predictive and judgmental than explicit prejudice. Therefore, the conscious and unconscious state of the mind contributes to individual judgment of other peoples behavior.

Antony Greenwald started Implicit Association Test in 1988 to determine the strength of individuals in link to their memory. It determines attitudes and traits of individual by asking them questions on what they think about their society. Implicit Association Test assists individuals to know and understand their personalities so that they can build up their self esteem to face challenges in life.

When individuals answer questions in the Implicit Association Test it detects their level of prejudice on other people; it assists them in changing their attitudes towards others.

Implicit Association Test involves an individual with seven tasks: categorization of stimuli in a black screen, attribute sorting procedure, a combined task of category and attributes, repetitions of words, reverse of categorization, opposite pairing of combined category and attributes and more repetition of category and attributes. After finishing the steps in Implicit Association Test, an individual receives feedback on their level of prejudice on other people in society.

The results from Implicit Association Test reflect that prejudice occurs without mental consciousness of an individual. Individuals are unaware of their prejudice state in mind because one is not conscious about the hidden information in their memory.

When filling the Implicit Association Test an individual does not realize hash thought about others until they comprehend their unconscious mind. Implicit Association Test supports McConnell and Leibold point out that the conscious and unconscious state of mind affects individuals attitudes towards other people in society.

The social perspective of prejudice reflects on collective process of individuals in a society influenced by sense of position. The norms and values of society determine the level of prejudice of individuals because it acts as the guidelines on what the society believes in. Therefore, individuals believe that their race is superior to others because they feel different from other races. Collective process of society contributes on social racial discrimination in society because the racial group that surrounds the community influences individuals.

Psychologists believe that the mind controls all human activities thus shaping their behavior. Therefore, McConnell and Leibold psychological perspective describes prejudice clearly as it reflects on mental activities on prejudices. Prejudice is in the unconscious state of the mind because individuals do not realize it until when they assess their behaviors towards others.

Application of Theory

Social work theories are instrumental in explaining peoples behavior and helping people review their stances and prejudices. The book How to be an anti-racist provides insight into where racial prejudices come from and what one should do to eliminate them. While the work on combatting biases is, by all means, essential at a personal level, it is, first of all, a social issue that should be tackled by relying on social work theories that outline the basis of interpersonal interaction. The psychodynamic theory and, more specifically, Otto Ranks existential ideas can help to explain many of the postulates of the How to be an anti-racist book from the social work perspective, shedding new light on how racial prejudices can be eliminated.

Although there has been a considerable rise in the anti-racial movement in recent years, some of the prejudices remain deeply ingrained in peoples minds. In terms of the psychodynamic theory, this can be explained by the fact that a persons outlook is, to a large extent, formed by the experience he or she lived through. This experience, working at an unconscious level, may have a direct though unperceived influence on a persons behavior. Since the history of racism counts hundreds of years while the ideas of abolitionism first appeared about two hundred years ago, the deeper attitude can still be pronounced in peoples behavior.

Nowadays, to be anti-racial, it is not enough not to engage in racial discrimination practices. Kendi (2019) states that there is no neutrality in the racism struggle, and to be anti-racial, one should actively voice anti-racial views and concerns. Anti-racial social work should be organized in the form of micro, mezzo, and macro practices. At a micro level, such work presupposes self-reflection to eradicate ones racial prejudices. The method of self-reflection runs in line with the postulates of the psychodynamic theory that views self-reflection as a basis for personal growth.

At a mezzo level, social work to combat racism can assume a form of identifying unjust norms and creating spaces to fight them as a group. Such a movement as Black lives matter grew out of a group of people who saw social injustice and were ready to fight it. While many people feel discomfort about confronting established views and practices, it is essential to combat racism in all its forms. Therefore, creating spaces for dialogue helps to establish a nonjudicial environment where people are not afraid to voice their concerns and suggest actions that may be instrumental in the fight against racism. At a macro level, social work includes joining anti-racial organizations and raising awareness about discriminatory practices at work or in other public areas.

The proposed measures run in line with Otto Ranks ideas. The theoretician believed that an individual as a creating force has the power of self-determination which can be used intentionally to shape her or his psychological world (Koenig et al., 2019, p. 112). Thus, while the influence of ingrained ideas about Afro-Americans on an individual may still be great, it is within a persons powers to change his or her outlook by will. In Kendis view, being an anti-racist requires persistent self-awareness, constant self-criticism, and regular self-examination. (Kendi, 2019, p. 7). To this end, every person can change if they seriously undertake such a task.

While social work should be aimed at providing opportunities for change and fighting deficient practices within society, it is no less important to work over alleviating a feeling of guilt that people may have when they do not conform to the standards accepted within their family or community. Thus, there may be a shared negative attitude towards people of color in places where the workforce is mainly white. Individuals who do not share a typical perspective may be frowned upon, which will foster a feeling of guilt. Kendi (2019) states that some of us are restrained by fear of what could happen to us if we resist but urges to combat this feeling (p. 13). To this end, therapeutic meetings with social workers may be organized where people can find support and encouragement in their fight against racism.

Unfortunately, racism has found its way into every corner of American life, and the examples of racial discrimination are numerous. Kendi (2019), in his book, speaks about structural racism, racism that has been institutionalized to marginalize minority groups. Thus, Kendi (2019) states that White lives matter to the tune of 3.5 additional years over Black lives in the United States [&] starting from infancy, where Black infants die at twice the rate of White infants. Moreover, structural racism is embedded into many governmental practices where minorities experience additional difficulties in securing governmental services. A good example of institutional racism is the treatment of Afro-Americans and minority groups in the punitory system across the US. Thus, Afro-Americans get harsher and longer sentences by the criminal justice system than whites who have committed identical crimes. The incarnation rate of minority groups is also much higher than that of the white population. In daily practices, institutional racism has found its way into residential business, where agents would not sell or rent accommodation to an Afro-American in a neighborhood populated by wealthy whites.

The above-mentioned practice of discrimination may be well explained by the Critical Race theory, which states that racial prejudices find their way into everyday practices adopted at the highest level. Many laws and regulations have been formed under the influence of prejudices that have been transformed from purely emotional attitudes to the practices of segregation. The theory explains the direct connection between racial attitudes in peoples minds and the environment they form. That is why, to fully and irrevocably embrace the fight against racism, one should not only get rid of discriminatory practices but eliminate the very buds of racism in ones mind.

Examining Anti-Racism Practices on an Individual Level

To commit to some of the steps to eliminate racial inequity outlined by Kendi, one should start with self-reflection thinking over the practices and ideas he or she adheres to, and striving to eliminate those that are, in essence, racist. Secondly, a person should not let racist practices go unnoticed and advocate for racial equality every time they see an injustice being committed. To combat ones fear of going against the crowd, one may engage in support groups where people share the same ideas of equality and anti-racial stances.

1. While practicing these steps, a person should hold themselves accountable first to themselves and later to the group they belong to. Careful examination of the situations where one could have spoken against racism and did not do it helps to see where a person failed his or her ideals for the sake of socially established conventions. Moreover, the practice of considering a persons failures helps in the future to remedy the situation instilling him or her with the confidence to act differently next time. Group accountability presupposes sharing stories of success and failures with subsequent analysis of how the described situation could have been improved.
2. In ones work to be an anti-racist, one can be actively supported by family, friends, and the anti-racial groups a person may belong to.

A person should approach anti-racist work with vulnerability because racial ideas may be deeply ingrained in peoples minds, and trying to eradicate them through violence and harsh rhetoric may cause incomprehension and resentment. Vise versa, explaining to people where they might have been wrong and how their actions affect Afro-Americans may foster mutual understanding and make people willing to change.

1. It is difficult to acknowledge ones beliefs as racist because of ego defense mechanisms that work to suppress conscious awareness of a persons failings. According to Freud, ego mechanisms help individuals to adapt to the environment, repressing all thoughts that go against conventional beliefs (Koening et al., 2019, p. 103). Therefore, at a time when racism is finally acknowledged as evil, it is difficult to admit that a person has racial ideas in their mind. The same is true for racial practices exercised by some people who would not recognize these practices as racial.
2. Recognizing and sharing ones beliefs can create an opportunity for self-reflection because recognition of ones failures is a first step towards making changes within oneself as well as in ones surroundings. Acknowledgment of a persons racial ideas boosts reflection processes on how they can be eliminated. Sharing these ideas generates discussion about the best way to tackle the problem.
3. To help others in their reflection and learning, I can share the experience of eradicating in my mind ideas that, on careful examination, I considered racial. Moreover, I can tell others about the actions I undertook and the feelings I experienced when I confronted racial injustice issues for the first time. I think my experience can be instrumental in helping others in their reflection on racial discrimination issues and in their learning to stand up against racial prejudices wherever they see them.

References

Kendi, I. X. (2019). How to Be an Anti-Racist. One World. Web.

Koenig, T., Spano, R., & Thompson, J. (2019). Human behavior theory for social work practice. Sage Publications. Web.

Introduction

Stereotyping is a regular psychological phenomenon, given that such stable convictions and assumptions about certain objects and groups allow building the understanding of others. However, stereotyping often refers to the creating purely social barriers, mistreatment, and misrepresentation of the group. The present paper discusses the cognitive patterns, associated with politicians, tattooed people, feminists and senior citizens.

Main body

Politicians are normally compared to actors and referred to like populists, who manipulate commonly shared existential values (safety, health, unity, fraternity) in order to satisfy their personal interests (Gioseffi, 1993, p. 48). Politicians are also labeled as cruel, formalistic, and greedy; however, there exists a wealth of positive visions of people, who have access to power: it is commonly known that they are normally rich, well-dressed, well-mannered, sophisticated, and intelligent. The above-described stereotypes are normally not shared by the members of politicians families and friends, who know them in different hypostases and are ware of the price one needs to pay to reach political success; moreover, due to the fact that politicians receive votes mainly from the states and areas of origin, one can assume that their compatriots fail to develop this stereotype in regard to certain political activists. In order o reinforce these stereotypes, appeals to such values as justice, equal opportunity and private property are used, politicians incomes and actions are normally hyperbolized and contrasted to those of the poor population groups.

In fact, politicians do not always lie and pretend, their statements are grounded by the personal belief in the truthfulness of the claim or workability of the system they offer. In addition, contemporary legislation quite strongly prevents politicians from misusing their entitlements; voters also serve as a social sensor that does not allow politicians to forget about common interests and their promises.

Tattooed persons are normally stereotyped as deviants: there are many who cling to the old stereotypes of the modified population as being drug addicted, alcoholic, prone to criminal acts, belligerent, uneducated, and tending toward violence. When many people see mods they immediately project onto the individual a set of character attributes are generally those of a one dimensional, socially deviant (bmezine.com, 2008, par.2). Physical modifications are also associated with low income and lack of social privileges: logically, if the group of people is perceived as deviant, it is likely to be discriminated against by employers, who also pose certain dress code and appearance requirements. Tattooed men are often viewed as people, who never maturate and spend their whole life wandering around the country and riding their motorbike; tattooed girls are often viewed (especially by the older generations) as promiscuous and careless in interpersonal relations (Gioseffi, 1993, p. 34; Zanna and Olson, 1994, p. 62). There are also positive stereotypes; in particular, people with visible tattoos are considered interesting interlocutors, creative, and strong in terms of proficiency in combat arts and the ability to physically protect themselves and their friends. This stereotype is reinforced by visually displaying criminals and deviants as tattooed persons and stressing that certain delinquent subcultures have such practice as covering their bodies with drawings.

Although this stereotype is spread among the majority, relatives, friends, family members, employers, and teachers of tattooed persons (or people who are personally acquainted with one or several persons with modified bodies) approach this stereotype with caution and do not fully support it. In fact, tattooed persons often work in creative or artistic areas (stylists, tattooists, artists, photographers), so they dont really need to observe corporate dress code (Zanna and Olson, 1994, p.65). Their lifestyles are different, but experts normally see no relationship between the presence of drawings on the skin and risky behavior.

The popular stereotypes about feminists include the views that they hate males and are unhappy in romantic relationships and have so bad temper and habits that men rarely pay to them attention (Zanna and Olson, 1994, p. 69). They are also viewed as social deviants and often considered to be lonely and have no friends except colleagues. There are also positive convictions: for instance, feminists are perceived as self-sufficient, strong, well-educated women with a good white-collar job and high income. These judgments are normally supported by such rhetorical devices as expert opinion: ostensibly competent experts tend to discuss feminism and womans independence in quite negative terms, connecting these characteristics with womens solitude and failures in interpersonal relations. These stereotypes are often rejected by feminists themselves or those people, who participated in inequality movements, as well as by individuals, personally acquainted with feminists for some time. In fact, positive stereotypes are confirmed: researcher Laurie Rudman found that more than 60 percent of feminists had higher education (Branson, 2006) and white-collar occupation; moreover, most of them appeared to be happy in cross-gender relationships: strong, independent women have satisfying lives, and their men are happy too (Branson, 2006, par.6).

Senior citizens are on the one hand shown as ignorant, weak, dependent, and forgetful as well as excessively conservative so that they are often shown as opponents of technological and social innovations. On the other hand, they are positively stereotyped as kind and caring, as eternally loving grandmas and grandpas, who dedicate a lot of time to their children as well as to the growing generation. Rhetorically, these stereotypes are confirmed by media images of the elderly, portrayed with a good amount of humor, so their fading memory and physical weakness are mocked to a certain degree. However, seniors who still lead an active lifestyle, reject both positive and negative stereotypes, insisting that they are still living and enjoying their own, independent life. Statistically, most seniors are really capable of meeting their needs by themselves, the prevalence of chronic diseases in this group is higher, but they insignificantly impair their social and spiritual life (Zanna and Olson, 1994, p.83).

Conclusion

As for me, I learned a lot of new information about my internal barriers to meeting new people and gaining new experience, known as stereotypes. I have realized that those associated with minority groups, about which I know only theoretically, are still strong  for instance, I also often approached tattooed persons and youth subculture representatives with criminality prejudice. At the same time, I am aware of the fact that there is a number of stereotypes against me: as a student, I can be considered careless, due to my accent, I can be labeled as an illegal immigrant, these stereotypes are often cemented by media images and rhetorical representations of the respective groups.

Reference

Gioseffi, D. (1994). On Prejudice: A Global Perspective. New York: Doubleday.

Zanna, M. and Olson, J. (1994).The Psychology of Prejudice. NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Branson, K. (2006). Researcher turns tables on feminist stereotypes and causes a stir. 2007. Web.

Bmezine.com. (2008). Social consequences of visible body modifications. Web.

Modern social values include celebrating and promoting diversity and the peaceful co-existence of individuals with dissimilar and even incompatible views and characteristics. In this context, mixed-race couples should be treated just like same-race couples and face no discrimination, prejudice, or misunderstanding related to their personal choices. However, interracial couples have to deal with a variety of issues, including disapproval from families, race-based stereotypes, and peoples tendency to overestimate interracial differences.

Mixed-race couples are generally accepted, but those entering such relationships do not always find support from their families. For instance, I know two Black-White couples that have faced this issue and noticed certain signs of discontent when introducing their romantic partners to the family. At first sight, the reactions of family members seemed to stem from the lack of personal sympathy. For instance, the families of interracial couples may do their best to avoid the discussions of race and interracial tensions and express their perspectives concerning money inequality between the partners. However, as per my acquaintances experiences, their relatives did not make similar comments about interpersonal incompatibility or belonging to different social groups concerning their previous same-race relationships. Current research confirms the aforementioned tendency; according to sociology studies, between 16% and 37% of White Americans would disapprove of their relatives romances with African Americans (Skinner and Hudac 68). Thus, despite the popularity of anti-racist views, some parents tend to accept their childrens mixed-race relationships as a poor choice but find other explanations for their position to avoid being accused of racism.

Another form of prejudice against interracial romantic relationships involves receiving comments that are based on stereotypes. Mixed-race dating and marriages are sometimes perceived through the prism of offensive stereotypes that reduce the complexity of interpersonal relationships to racial fetishism or the desire to benefit from these relationships. Such stereotypes often refer to racial minority women and are used to explain the reason why their partners have decided to start such romances. For instance, White partners of Asian women sometimes receive approving comments based on stereotypical perceptions of these women as subservient wives that place mens wishes first. Regarding relationships between Black women and non-Black men, such couples may receive rather offensive comments about Black womens body type as the reason why men of other races would want to date them. Based on conversations with my acquaintances that are or have been in mixed-race relationships, such opinions and jokes are not uncommon. Therefore, stereotypes influence peoples perceptions of mixed-race partners and their reasons for entering such relationships.

Interracial couples may be viewed negatively because of the implied belief that cultural differences between races are substantial enough to prevent mutual understanding. According to the experiences of my friends and relatives who have had interracial romances, mixed-race couples tend to be asked too many questions about cultural characteristics and the frequency of conflicts that are based on culture-specific worldviews. Notably, such questions and discussions take place even when it comes to partners that originate from the same country and do not have any language barriers.

To sum up, despite the general acceptance of mixed-race relationships and the absence of legal barriers to marriages involving spouses that belong to different races, such couples still face prejudice. Aside from disapproval and criticism from their own families, their relationships can be perceived and explained using stereotypes, including objectification. Beliefs about the existence of irreconcilable differences between races also support ongoing prejudice.

Work Cited

Skinner, Allison L., and Caitlin M. Hudac. Yuck, you disgust me! Affective Bias against Interracial Couples. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, vol. 68, 2017, pp. 68-77.

The question of racial prejudice always was one of the most problematic and striking all over the world. Three works I have read confirm this idea bearing the theme of advantages of the White and disadvantages of the Black. So, these works are dedicated to an insidious social and moral disease affecting single people and populations around the world that is called racism.

I have heard and read a lot of works written to help people to realize that distinguishable biological features according to which we identify any race cannot become the reasons of mental or moral superiority. This idea is central in articles by McIntosh, Tatum, and Dalton. They describe the question of race as a problem that was born in a society of individuals; as they say, this society consists of separate organisms being not able to live together in harmony and trying to show their superiority in different ways and one of these ways is racial prejudice. But the idea is that we are to solve the problem to live peacefully and this problem is not racism as it is, the problem is discrimination in all its manifestations which we meet in the relationship between men and women and in many others.

One more striking idea that was interesting for me and made me think over is that white people do not realize themselves as having a race (Dalton, 2005, p.17) in contrast to the black. And it can be explained by the influence of historical events and slavery.

Revaluing my position, I am to note that even though racial prejudice was not an obvious problem at my school it did not make it non-existent. And Harlon Daltons approach to the conflict of races in the work Failing to See reshaped my point of view greatly. The author says: Of course, ethnic groups influence one another in myriad ways, and more than occasionally come into conflict. But they do not need each other to exist (Dalton, 2005, p.15). It means that despite my own observations problem of discrimination always exists. Perhaps, due to my position of non-interference deeply into this problem, it was beneath my notice. Now I understand that the problem of any discrimination starts at school and it must be solved there. To be more precise white pupils are to be taught that Ethnicity & describes that aspect of our heritage that & shapes our values, our family structure, our rituals, our mating behavior, much of our daily lives. We embody our ethnicity without regard for the & other ethnic groups (Dalton, 2005, p.15). Realizing any race the same way as ethnicity or culture will bring to the disappearance of any development of racism. And there will be no need to think over if you would like to be antiracists or racists (Tatum, 1994, p.462). To get rid of any diversity people are to realize that there is no light without darkness and if there are no black there would be no white, and vice versa.

In conclusion, there must be mentioned that the rights in the competition between the White and the Black are not truly equal as the White take the drivers seat and they make their conclusions concerning the modern relationship between representatives of different races. Being taught to think over our lives like morally neutral, average as well as ideal, we work to benefit the others, and it looks like we let them be like us (McIntosh, 2005, p.109). Whites looking down upon Black is unconscious and the cause of it is historical background that cannot be cut out of the past. And such blots of the past must be viewed at school in most cases for the White feeling their superiority.

Bibliography

Dalton, H., 2005. Failing to See. White privilege: Essential readings on the other side of racism, 2^nd ed., Worth Publishers, New York, pp.15-18.

McIntosh, P., 2005. White privilege: Unpacking the invisible knapsack, in White Privilege: Essential Readings on the Other Side of Racism, 2nd ed, Worth Publishers, New York, pp. 109-113.

Tatum, B. D., 1994. Teaching white students about racism: The search for white allies and the restoration of hope, Teachers College Record, 95(4), pp.462-475.

Human beings tend to generate preconceived notions about others, often to their detriment, despite insufficient information: this is more commonly referred to as prejudice. While the word may have negative connotations, prejudice is innate in human beings and is born from the ability to observe and make deductions from stimuli (González, Cortina, & Rodríguez, 2019). It is crucial to note that bias affects not only the subject but also the perpetrator. The statement in question is about the discrimination levied towards women who receive welfare as their primary means of sustenance or supplement to their individual or family income.

In reality, unwed motherhood, divorce, and desertion are not confined to college graduates. Therefore, most single mothers do not have the professional skills to earn a fair salary. Furthermore, it is essential to acknowledge that these welfare mothers plight is not only inept economic management but rather a myriad of issues, ranging from mental illnesses, domestic abuse, or alcohol and drug addiction (Cassese & Barnes, 2019). If these issues are considered by the broader society, then such prejudice towards welfare mothers would, perhaps, dissipate, and people would actively seek to render aid.

To mitigate the issue of welfare mothers, administrations should strive to avail such programs as rehabilitation and counseling, job training and informal education, and apprenticeship to bolster professional skills and allow them to be self-sufficient in society. The statistics of current welfare programs should also be made readily available to the public. This would show the positive impact of such programs on the lives of many individuals from low-income backgrounds and might incentivize future support of these interventions.

In conclusion, prejudice affects peoples ability to have objective opinions about others. Society often disregards the issues that force mothers to rely on welfare to raise a family. This paper has identified factors contributing to mothers overreliance on welfare and suggested some measures that could alleviate this challenge. Therefore, having a deeper understanding of problems affecting mothers can help eliminate biases surrounding the welfare they receive to cater to families needs.

References

Cassese, E. C., & Barnes, T. D. (2019). Intersectional motherhood: Investigating public support for child care subsidies. Politics, Groups, and Identities, 7(4), 775-793.

González, M. J., Cortina, C., & Rodríguez, J. (2019). The role of gender stereotypes in hiring: A field experiment. European Sociological Review, 35(2), 187-204.

The black people have always been suffering from oppression throughout history, starting from the period of colonization and until nowadays. Although society seems to be awakening from ignorance and the Black Lives Matter movement made a massive shift in peoples minds, there are still numerous problems and struggles that black people have to deal with daily.

One example is the recent article Black Unemployment Rises In Jobs Report Despite More Job Seekers (2021), which that shows even though the demand for workers is rising, black peoples unemployment rate also rises and not getting lower. Business leaders claim that it is all because of the coronavirus consequences and the shortage of a well-qualified workforce. Although referring to Franck, Kimball, Rattner (2021), black workers with an associate degree saw an unemployment rate of 6.9 percent, while the jobless rate among white high school dropouts was 5.8 percent. Hence, those arguments are only an undercover for discrimination.

There is another case that illustrates the absurdness of situations and possible tension that black people often experience. According to Spoccia (2021), the white woman called 911 on the black birdwatcher, claiming he threatened her life in the previous year. Rarely some of the population can expect that kind of treatment in everyday life.

Those two stories are perfect examples of what black people have to through just because of racial prejudice. They highlight and depict the reaction of white society to black people and the issues they face daily. Most of the time, the privileged segment of the population ignores those facts and justifies acts of discrimination.

A skilled black person with a degree cannot get a job, while at the same time, some white man with less professional knowledge has higher chances to receive an offer and start working. It seems that many white people unconsciously perceive black people as someone suspicious, dangerous and strange. Therefore, the white population can expect crime or violence due to social stereotypes and prejudice. Consequently, instead of solving the problem, they start calling the police and start acting themselves aggressively. There are still many issues to work on, and modern society only begins to realize the actual position of things.

References

Franck, T., Kimball, S., Rattner, N. (2021). Black Unemployment Rises In Jobs Report Despite More Job Seekers. NBC News. 

Spoccia, G. (2021). Central Park Karen Still Claims She Had Good Reason To Call Police On Black Birdwatcher. Independent. 

Throughout the world, human equality has always been a problem. Stereotypes, discrimination, and prejudice have become intergenerational, and society has accepted these forms of behaviors as satisfactory and usual. Based on the article Causes of Prejudice, Vincent N. Parrillo argues that prejudice appears in two forms, either sociological or psychological. The author believes that both types of discrimination are significant since their associated harm harms the individual and society at large. While society entertains prejudice-related behaviors, the attributed effects affect every race.

On the one hand, the psychological cause of prejudice reflects a persons behavior, and it manifests when people think and act in a specific manner, which positively or negatively influences others. The perspective associated with this form focuses on prejudice levels, personality, frustration, and self-justification (Vincent, 2013). Vincent (2013) associates the personality aspect with the aggression, displacement, and authoritarian development individuals experience as they mature into adulthood. As Vincent sees it, self-justification is how a group or a person denigrates others to justify how they mistreat them. Frustration is a prejudiced segment and involves relative deprivation and scapegoating. Vincent (2013) explains, if we might persuade ourselves that an additional group is inferior, dangerous or morally wrong, we might feel justified in discriminating them, enchanting them and even killing them (506). The associated prejudice levels include action-oriented, cognitive, and emotional and are responsible for how the discriminatory behaviors occur.

On the other hand, the sociological type of prejudice results from beliefs that have been passed down among generations in stereotypical or discriminatory behaviors. Here, the primary triggers of the preconception constitute attitudes, sub-cultures, and cultures. Economic competition results in bias through insecurity as a result of aggressive behavior (Vincent, 2013). Based on Vincent (2013), when there is a serious turndown in the availability of jobs, chauvinism, unenthusiastic, and discrimination arise (507). The state of joblessness is a critical sociological aspect since it leads to the threat to an individuals sense of safety, which often equates to aggressiveness and unfriendliness. In the modern world, the state of joblessness causes people to act suddenly see their differences and decide to use aggressive actions to eliminate their economic competitors.

The leading example Vincent uses in the article to show the effect of prejudice is racism. The notion behind it is the belief that people of a specific race have some abilities or characteristics which they use to define the superiority of some races over others. During conflicts, recessions, service issuance, and war, however, prejudice and racism are two potent agents that create hatred and fear. When racism is highlighted in this context, Vincent shows that African-Americans have been subjected to generational slavery since they arrived in Virginia in 1619. The discrimination against this ethnic group continues despite the 1865 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Vincent Parillo brings out a profound understanding of the issues facing society. The author does this by differentiating the causes of prejudice in the modern world into psychological and sociological. Vincent shows that prejudices are attributed to a persons or a groups attitude, which can affect others negatively or positively. The essay has shown the opposing challenges of prejudice by illustrating frustration and economic competition. Concerning racism, the paper has shown how certain attitudes have been used against African-Americans since they arrived in the U.S. and how that continues despite constitutional amendments.

Reference

Vincent, P. (2013). Causes of prejudice. In Colombo, Gary, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle (Eds.). Rereading America: Cultural contexts for critical thinking and writing. (pp. 504-516). Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins.

Introduction

There have been numerous attempts to define prejudice by scholars. The meaning of prejudice is negative attitudes toward individual members of a particular social group (Dovidio et al. 1). The target of prejudice can include women, immigrants, asylum seekers, the elderly, and people with mental illnesses. In some cases, acts of prejudice can result in violent and discriminatory behavior. Bias against some individuals may legitimize and facilitate collective and personal oppression and violence (Cohrs and Duckitt 2). This indicates that prejudice is a topic that has a significant impact on people. This essay will research and analyze the origins of prejudice, types of prejudice, and the impacts of prejudice.

Types of Prejudice

Prejudice results from the need to group people based on their race, gender, and age. This leads to the development of expectations based on the social categories of race, gender, and age. One of the most significant types of prejudice is racism which can be described as the bias against a person based on their affiliation to a specific racial group (Marx 43). The most common example is the prejudice against minority groups such as Latinx and African Americans in the United States. The presence of racial bias is significant because of the impacts it has on the prejudiced. In the past, cases of racial discrimination have elicited severe backlash from the majority of the people (Marx 43). However, these issues are still occurring, which indicates that racial prejudice exists among us.

Another form of prejudice is sexism which is a bias towards individuals based on their sex. In most cases, sexism describes men holding biases towards women. However, both genders can show prejudice against each other in different situations. Some of the common forms of chauvinism include gender role expectations and gender group behavior expectations (Dovidio et al. 3). The impacts of sexism are more significant on women because they experience the majority of prejudice. Ageism is the bias against people based on their age. Individuals can form biased expectations and judgments about the elderly. Aspects such as older adults being incompetent, physically weak, and slow are some examples of the prejudice formed against aging individuals.

Homophobia is another type of prejudice that represents discrimination and bias against people based on their sexual orientation. In the current era, this prejudice is rampant, especially in developing countries. The result of bias can be violence or exclusion from important aspects of society (Marx 44). There have been cases of employers not hiring people who identify as either lesbian, gay, or bisexual. This shows that prejudice has a significant impact on the well-being of individuals. Violence towards people because of bias should be addressed through laws and policies (Dovidio et al. 5). Therefore, the most common types of bias are related to the age, gender, sexual orientation, and race of an individual.

Origins of Prejudice

The origins of prejudice can be understood using four important issues. One of the issues is the universal social-psychological bases of bias. The composition of the world into discrete groups which have different characteristics creates attachment (Cohrs and Duckitt 3). Individuals may view their cluster as better than others which creates prejudice. The automatic identification of a group results in the creation of motivation to differentiate from other groups (Cohrs and Duckitt 4).

This then results in favoritism, bias, and discrimination against those sets considered as not good enough. In most societies in the world, some tribes are considered superior, while others are taken as inferior. The result is the creation of class systems that represent the prejudices that originated from the division of people into groups. Therefore, the division of the world into ethnocentric clusters is one of the origins of prejudice.

Another important issue is the social and inter-group origins of prejudice. Bias can be meted out against one group and not against other groups. The characterization of clusters by convergent boundaries such as social class and ethnicity creates a high chance for prejudicial behaviors (Cohrs and Duckitt 4). This is because in such cases, the factors that may reduce bias are absent. The competition between groups results in avenues of prejudice being created (Cohrs and Duckitt 4). The need to achieve status and prestige can influence the attitude that a group has over other groups.

Intergroup threat is where members from one cluster view another subgroup as a source of danger or disruption. The risk can either be realistic, symbolic, or motivated by group esteem (Cohrs and Duckitt 5). Intergroup competition can contribute to the development of perceived threats which can influence the attitudes of individual subgroups. This can be enhanced by intergroup inequality, where one subgroup is more powerful and dominant. Subclusters that hold the leading position are more likely to adopt different strategies to enhance and maintain their position (Cohrs and Duckitt 5). Therefore, rivalries between groups, the presence of threats, and disparities between subgroups can be considered sources of prejudice.

Individual differences are also another issue that can provide insight into the origins of prejudice. As indicated above, bias towards certain groups is shared within the cluster. However, there are variances in the way people within a set hold collective prejudiced attitudes (Cohrs and Duckitt 6).

This is because people have different personalities, which can enhance or reduce the presence of prejudice. For example, individuals associated with right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation are more likely to be biased against certain groups. Another aspect is the social world beliefs of people which vary from individual to individual. These principles tend to influence the perception, which enhances prejudice. The need to express power and dominate is a personality that can be attributed to bias (Cohrs and Duckitt 6). Therefore, the character of individuals can be a source of prejudice as it influences the way people act and behave.

Prejudice can also be based on culture and society through different beliefs and values. Some cultures can be less tolerant than others which breeds bias. The need to belong ensures that humans hold on to their cultural beliefs (Cohrs and Duckitt 6). This creates situations where people from a certain culture regard it as dominant. Power over other individuals yields instances where there is favoritism and discrimination (Liberman et al. 557). Open-minded societies are less prone to show prejudice. This is because bias may emanate from the lack of consideration of other peoples values and belief systems. This shows that culture and society can be originators of prejudice against other groups.

Why Prejudice Exists

Prejudice exists because of peoples conformity to social norms that enhance bias. Different societies view certain types of discrimination as normal. This results in the normalization of behaviors which influences the way people perceive certain aspects. Children learn about prejudice from their parents, teachers, and online platforms. The self-fulfilling prophecy can explain why prejudices exist. The theory states that when people hold stereotypes about other individuals, they create expectations that these persons will fulfill the set characteristics (Cohrs and Duckitt 6). This means that stereotypes about people influence the way they treat other people. The model shows that prejudice is influenced by the individual perception of the world.

Another aspect that shows why prejudice exists is confirmation bias. People tend to pay more attention to information that suits their stereotypic expectations while ignoring information that is not consistent with their intentions (Dovidio et al. 3). This shows that there is a confirmation bias which is a result of the need to conform to certain social norms. The need to ignore contrary opinions is also based on individual characteristics. Confirmation bias enhances the presence of prejudice because it becomes easy to make the wrong decision.

As noted earlier, groups are the source of identity and self-esteem for most individuals. These groups can be viewed as either in-groups or out-groups. In-groups represent the groups where people view themselves as belonging (Cohrs and Duckitt 3). For example, for doctors, an in-group is a group comprising all doctors. On the other hand, out-groups are those that people view as being different from them. For example, for females, a group that comprises males is an out-group. As people feel more connected to their in-groups a bias may develop, which represents the preference for ones group over other groups (Dovidio et al. 7).

The prejudice may result in discrimination against the out-group because it is deemed different and thus less preferred. Individuals are interested in protecting their in-groups because of the positive emotions. In cases where threats to the in-group occur, the mechanism to resolve such conflicts is scapegoating. This involves accusing the out-group when a goal is not achieved (Dovidio et al. 6). Therefore, prejudice exists because of the need for people to conform to social norms, which promote partiality.

Impacts of Prejudice on Society

One of the impacts of prejudice on society is violence against innocent people. This is witnessed when people hold a bias against a specific group and resulting in using violence to show their displeasure (Symons et al. 468). An example is the slavery period, where minorities were discriminated against, and the holocaust, where victims suffered significantly. The use of violence results in death, which can affect the trajectory of families. Behaviors that promote bias against other people can easily be spread because of social media (Symons et al. 467). This increases the threat for groups that are at risk of being discriminated against. Therefore, prejudice can result in violence, which may lead to the loss of lives.

Another significant impact of prejudice is the loss of opportunities. Bias against women in the workplace or girl students may lead to the loss of useful chances. The significance is that such loss will enhance the disparity that exists between men and women. Persistent exposure to bias can result in the normalization of discrimination, which can help advance the impacts on the victims (Symons et al. 470). Loss of motivation is an aspect that can be related to failure to undertake new opportunities. People who encounter prejudice many times are more likely to be less motivated to perform certain activities. This shows that bias affects the well-being of people, which then impacts their ability to carry out different actions.

Social stigma against certain behavior or people is another impact of prejudice. Stigma develops when people treat a group as deviant because it does not conform to expected behavior (Esses 504). The dominant subgroup views the conduct as being a result of physical or psychological problems. The resultant prejudice creates stigma, which can then lead to stigmatization. For example, the isolation of black suburbs in the U.S. is because of the governments view that such neighborhoods should not be developed.

The prejudice in this case is based on race and affects black people. Crime is another key impact of prejudice in society and can be attributed to the loss of self-esteem (Esses 504). Social class influences the type of crime an individual will commit, which further underlines the impacts of prejudice (Esses 505). The resources spent in policing as a result of various forms of bias are high. Therefore, prejudice and discrimination cause serious impacts on society.

Conclusion

In summary, prejudice can be viewed as a negative perception towards people from a certain group. Individuals form their identities based on factors such as age, gender, race, and sexual orientation. Forms of prejudice originate from culture, society, individual beliefs, and group dynamics. Bias contributes to the loss of opportunities and motivation to carry out specific activities. This affects the general well-being of individuals and leads to a reduction in productivity.

Works Cited

Cohrs, J. Christopher, and John Duckitt. Prejudice, types, and origins of. The Encyclopedia of Peace Psychology: Blackwell, vol. 1, 2012, pp. 1-7.

Dovidio, John F., Fabian MH Schellhaas, and Adam R. Pearson. Prejudice. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Psychology, vol 23, 2019, pp. 1-17. Web.

Esses, Victoria M. Prejudice and discrimination toward immigrants. Annual Review of Psychology, vol. 72, 2021, pp. 503-531. Web.

Liberman, Zoe, Amanda L. Woodward, and Katherine D. Kinzler. The origins of social categorization. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, vol. 21, no. 7, 2017, pp. 556-568. Web.

Marx, Philip. An absolute test of racial prejudice. The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, vol. 38, no. 1, 2022, pp. 42-91. Web.

Symons, Caroline M., Grant A. OSullivan, and Remco Polman. The impacts of discriminatory experiences on lesbian, gay and bisexual people in sport. Annals of Leisure Research, vol. 20, no. 4, 2017, pp. 467-489. Web.

Sexism in the workplace has been the cause of many fallen careers. Is being prejudice, stereotyping or discriminating typically against women based on their gender. Sexism language is an offensive reminder of the way the country and cultures view women and their ability achieve or do many jobs a man can do.

The way women are looked at and treated follows them from their cradles to the workplace throughout their lifetime. Sexism opinions have a lasting impact on how much a woman works and earns. Many don’t know but where a female is born and lives also plays a huge role on their lifelong earnings and work. It all depends on the level of sexism in the state they work and live in. Women born in the United States earn less ad work less than other women born in other countries. Those born in deep south are most likely to face a much wider economic gap than the women born in the Pacific Coast. Even if both women were to move to New York City the economic gap will still exist in their workplace and lifelong earnings.

Sexist attitudes in the workplace or even at home can discourage them or force them to leave their jobs, school or lifelong careers to become a homemaker for the rest of their life. Throughout many decades many of them have been forced to live off the government benefits because of the way they have been treated, view, judged or discourage just because of their gender or what their households are like. These types of attitudes are more common in the southeast and less prevalent in the West Coast. The Midwest varies, for example in the state of Ohio sexism levels are low but in the state of Indiana sexist attitudes are extremely high.

Sexual misconduct is also a part of sexism in the workplace. A lot of women are believed or accused of advancing in their careers or jobs because they have performed sexual acts or seduced someone in a higher position. There have been many sexual misconduct allegations at many jobs and schools that have ruined many women’s careers, families and marriages. Sometimes even their reputation. Most times the allegations are false, but they will be denied a job or fired just because of their looks or how they dress. In many cases it is true women do advance because they take advantage of the way they look, dress or are allowed to speak to someone in a higher position than them.

For example, one case that was seen many years ago and a lot of people are aware of it even decades after, is the Monica Lewinsky and President Bill Clinton sex affair scandal. It is believed and proven time after time that Ms. Lewinsky was kept at her White House intern position and later hired as an employee of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs because of the affair she did have with president Clinton. The sexual relationship between the two took place between 1995 and 1997 but wasn’t shed light on until 1998. When some phone conversations between the two were discovered and later Ms. Lewinsky confessed to the affair. In this case its known that both parties played a part in the sexist behavior in the workplace. President Clinton for abuse of power and Monica for her looks and age at the time.

Research have been performed many times to determine the level of sexism in the country. One research was done on only white women to ensure it was not about racial or discrimination because of skin color or race. And it was still determined that 42% of women have faced discrimination because of gender. The research was done on the Statistics of Census Bureau and The General Social Survey. This is a survey that consist of a poll of questions over time and documents changing Americans attitudes on a wide range of issues. Eight of the questions focused on the role of women in society.

One article written and stated by Pillay argued that women were better suited to be homemakers. That allegedly women are better of caring for the kids and household chores not for STEM, also known as Science Technology Engineering and Math Field. He believes women aren’t suited for this field because they choose flexibility, dedication to family and raising children before their job or career. To his knowledge women have no importance as much as men in their job or careers. According to Pillay men have more of an appetite or work than females. They are not seen as hard workers and ambitious workers because of things like maternity leave and sick days.

The female gender has not been given the equal and suitable opportunity to progress in the Engineering field. Study results from the Frontiers in Psychology in 2017 show that 1,464 women abandoned and left the field because of sexist attitudes and sexism at the workplace. There are many key factors on why they left, starting of with poor and unfair working conditions just because of their gender. These are women that were victims of inequitable compensation, inflexible work environment which made it had for them to keep an equal balance of work and family. Other women in the field faced lack of recognition at work, lack of use of their math and science skills just because of gender and no opportunities for advance. People of turned a blind eye to these issues for years and decades but the real problem here is the workplace and sexism.

Women aren’t given the fairness at jobs that they deserve. They are not recognized for their skills. Most are belittled at masculine jobs once again just because of gender. It has always been said over and over that the female can’t do the same as the male only because of physical strength. They view pregnancy as a woman main problem, when in fact that is one of a women’s biggest physical and metal strength. Women are naturally mentally stronger than men, we are able to multi task and carry much more information in our brains even though it has been said and they have tried to prove the opposite.

On another article I read while moving forward with my research it as proven 4 out of 10 women have faced and been victims of gender discrimination. This article was written by the Pew Research Center Survey data. They conducted a survey in which they made a comparison between males and females of discriminations they have faced at work. They asked both parties a couple of questions which proved females have faced more discrimination than males at the workplace. Questions such as pay rate, treatment, received support from other workers, denied promotions and so on. And this is what their results looked like at the end.

This survey center also administered two other surveys to gather more information and determine whether is was about gender discrimination or not. There was a survey conducted for postgraduate woman compare to some or less college and college graduate, and it happen to be the results were surprisingly shocking. Anyone would believe and be so sure that a postgraduate woman would be not face as much gender discrimination as a female with some or less college or a college graduate due to the fact a postgraduate has more education and work experience. But the truth that has been proven through these surveys is 57% of postgraduate women have been faced with gender discrimination. Sexism in the work place is a real thing whether you choose to believe it or not. And as I said before many times both parties have fault in this.

I say and I strongly believe both parties play a huge role in sexism in the workplace and in worldwide sexist attitude at work, school just in society all over for many reasons. My reasons on why I believe both are at fault, women and men are obvious and anyone that does not see it are just ignoring it by turning a blind eye to it. Throughout the years since the 1990’s you would see and witness young women teens become obsessed with and older man and they reason for becoming obsessed would be because of what the man had or could provide for them things they didn’t have at home or their parents wouldn’t provide. Sometimes it would also be the parents the ones to use their daughters to get what they wanted or needed.

As in the case of singer Robert Kelly also known by stage name R.Kelly. Many females and parents of the women are crying out rape and how he abused his power of celebrity and money. I wouldn’t say I don’t believe them, no that is not what I’m trying to say at all, but the question is where the parents were and why weren’t they worried when their teen daughters were going missing for days at a time. This is where I believe sexism came into place. I strongly believed some of the parents took advantage or at least believed they had an advantage of their daughter becoming famous or making money off them because they were young and beautiful and Mr.Kelly someone everyone loved him a lot of money in a higher position that would help them advanced in the music industry. In this case both were at fault, he abused his power as well respected and very much-loved celebrity and for the females and parents they did everything with second intentions of getting something in return from Mr. Kelly.

A lot of times men treat women with sexist attitudes because women not all, but some have implanted than in their brains. It can come from their girlfriends and wives to even their mother’s, sisters and aunts. We have witnessed many times where the wife would say well I don’t have to or I shouldn’t have to work because I’m at home all day taking care of the children, cooking, cleaning, doing laundry making sure everything is good for the husband but the truth of the matter is they don’t understand or have no knowledge of the damage they are doing. Long term damage at that. This type of behavior can cause a man to be controlling. Makes him feel powerful because he is the only one providing and feels entitled to do whatever he wants when he wants and as he pleases. He will feel the female isn’t good for anything but care for the home and children. He will feel he has the right to tell her hat to do with money because he is the one working for it, she has no sayings if or buts. The women have no type of skills or capability to handle any real male duties such as car mechanical issues or plumbing issues at home.

But in the recent years a group of medical students conducted a study. The study as focused on the comparison of cognitive functions between males and females. In results of this study they discovered that estrogen and Testosterones accentuate cognitive functions. Women before preovulatory are comparable to male but during preovulatory phase they have the advantage in executive task such as verbal fluency, perceptual speed, accuracy and fine motor skills. This is a result of women mental skills vary during different phases of the menstrual cycle. After the study was done it was also determined men outperformed women in spatial working memory and mathematical abilities.

There has been many studies and research in this, whether the women have the capability and knowledge to do the same jobs as a man and has she faced gender discrimination. But because of some inaccurate interpretation of scientist research including even false claims everyone just allows this to continue happening and it’s affecting many lives day by day. Women are being discourage and forced to leave their careers, jobs, schools and even college behind because of the way the community or country views them, treats them and don’t receive enough recognition. Sometimes are women putting other women down when we should all be trying to help each other out to stop the sexism at work, home, school all over the world. Sexism and sexist attitudes are all over and its up to women to shine light on this tremendous issue, that is causing so much damage to women’s bright promising futures.

There has been too many cases and incidents of sexism for it to continue. Women should be respected, given recognition and embraced the same way men are. They should be given equal opportunities at jobs and other challenges of life. Women should be able to prove themselves and not shut down before even getting for to what they want to accomplish in life. Maybe if women well not maybe I know for a fact if women were treated equally in the workplace and given the chance to advance as much as a man, we will see a lot of more women progress in career fields that are ran mostly by men and many more men in career fields ran by women. Any one’s gender shouldn’t determine their future, career, or progression in life. it shouldn’t determine your lifelong economics or where you should live. Where a female is born, or works shouldn’t determine wage gaps or promotions. When it comes to the career and job industry everyone should have an opportunity to achieve their goals and dreams because everyone has the same responsibilities, not exactly the same but the same in the sense of bills need to be paid, food need to be put on the table and children need to be taken care of and a roof needs to be kept over our heads.

No one should be taken that opportunity away because you never know what the next person is going through. Always give the person the benefit of the doubt no matter the gender, race, color or even where they were born, raised, lived or live. Whether they have a family, marriage, children or not, none of this defines a person’s abilities, skills, ambition, capacity and dedication. A woman or a man who really want to progress in life will dedicate themselves 100%. Even if it means changing things around in their life style but anything is possible.