Sociological Meanings of Basic Concepts

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Chapter 2

Prejudice

Prejudice & Discrimination

Prejudice
Negative attitude that rejects an entire group
Discrimination
Depriving group of certain rights/opportunities
Ethnophaulism
Ethnic slurs; derisive nicknames; speaking about/to a group condescendingly

Merton’s Typology

Unprejudiced nondiscriminator –or all weather liberal
Unprejudiced discriminator –or reluctant liberal
Prejudiced nondiscriminator –or timid bigot
The prejudiced discriminator –or all-weather bigot

LaPiere’s Study

Merton’s typology points out that people do not always act as they believe
Richard LaPiere (1934, 1969)
Exposed the relationship between racial attitudes and social conduct

LaPiere’s Study

Traveled with a Chinese couple across the United States
Despite alleged intolerance, couple treated courteously at hotels, motels, restaurants

White Privilege

Identified advantages:
Being considered financially reliable when using checks, credit cards, or cash.
Taking a job without having coworkers suspect it came about because of race.
Never having to speak for all the people of your race.

White Privilege

Watching television/reading a newspaper & seeing people of your race widely represented
Speaking effectively in a large group without being called a credit to your race.
Assuming that if legal or medical help is needed, your race will not work against you

Table 2.1: Theories of Prejudice

Figure 2.2: Prejudice and
Discrimination

As sociologist Robert Merton’s formulation shows, prejudice and discrimination are related to each other but are not the same.

Theories of Prejudice

Four theories of prejudice
Scapegoating
When an individual (group) projects & blames their own inadequacies or problems onto another group
Criticisms of Scapegoat Theory
Fails to explain why one group is used as a scapegoat and not another

Theories of Prejudice

Fails to explain why two individuals who share the same experience vary in tolerance
Does not explain personality differences
Authoritarian Personality
Adorno et al 1950 – study of authoritarianism and prejudice

Theories of Prejudice

Authoritarian Traits
Rigid adherence to conventional values
Uncritical acceptance of authority
Power and toughness
Intolerance and aggression toward those that don’t conform to conventional values

Theories of Prejudice

Criticisms of Authoritarian Personality
Focus on right wing group & ignore left wing group
Prejudice related to other traits such as social class
Methodology employed
Focused on only extreme forms of prejudice and not on other forms of prejudice

Theories of Prejudice

Exploitation
Prejudice is rationally and economically motivated on the basis of self interests
The dominant group benefits from prejudice in that it is rooted within the exploitation of a group
Criticisms of Exploitation Theory
Not all subordinate groups are exploited equally

Theories of Prejudice

Prejudice occurs for reasons other than economic
Prejudice is not necessarily rational and may undermine dominant group interests
Normative
Prejudice patterned into cultural norms & values of:
A group or society; a function of conforming to group norms of intolerance

What are Stereotypes?

Stereotypes
Unreliable generalizations about members of a group
Don’t take individual differences into account
Stereotypes are often exaggerated and negative images of a group
Stereotypes come from a variety of sources

Power of Stereotypes

Stereotypes often become a self-fulfilling prophecy
Affect how we feel
Affect how we relate to others

Power of Stereotypes

Stereotyping In Action: Racial Profiling
Any police-initiated action based on race, ethnicity, or national origin
Rather than the person’s behavior
Can be an explicit use of stereotypes

Figure 2.5: Foreign-Born Workers in the United States, by Country

About 15 percent of the civilian labor force is foreign-born, with Mexico the largest source.

Color-Blind Racism

The use of race-neutral principles to defend the racially unequal status quo
Recognition that race is rarely invoked in public debates on social issues
White attitudes toward African Americans
Attitudes are subject to change

Color-Blind Racism

Less progress was made in the late 20th & beginning of the 21st centuries
Than was made in the relatively brief period of the 1950s and 1960s
The pursuit of a color-blind agenda has created lower levels of support for politics
That could reduce racial inequality if implemented

The Mood of the Oppressed

Opinion polls have demonstrated interest in White attitudes on racial issues:
Longer than they have measured views of subordinate groups
Bias of White researchers
Dominant group more important to study because it’s in a better position act on beliefs

The Mood of the Oppressed

Research literature of the 1940s-1960s emphasized low self esteem of minorities
Should not assume minority status influences personality traits in a good or bad way
Such assumptions may create a stereotype
Characteristics of minority-group members are nor entirely the result of subordinate racial status

The Mood of the Oppressed

Many studies of personality imply that certain values are normal or preferable
But the values chosen are those of the dominant group
Prejudice and its affect on the self esteem of the subordinate group
Prejudice affects perceptions on fairness or equality of opportunity

Intergroup Hostility

Content and extent of prejudice and stereotypes between ethnic - racial groups
Members of oppressed groups have adopted the widely held beliefs of:
The dominant culture concerning oppressed groups

Intergroup Hostility

Some groups feel they get along better with Whites than other minority groups
Low-income people compete with each other
And do not see the larger societal forces the contribute to their low status

Reducing Prejudice

Obvious way to eliminate prejudice is to eliminate its causes
The desire to exploit
The fear of being threatened
The need to blame others for one’s own failure

Reducing Prejudice

Answer rests with programs directed at society as a whole
Prejudice is attacked indirectly when discrimination is attacked
Despite contrary prevailing beliefs, prejudice can be legislated
Statutes and decisions do affect attitudes

Reducing Prejudice

Studies on how to change negative attitudes toward groups find encouraging:
Education
Mass Media
Intergroup Contact
Workplace training programs

Education and Mass Media

Research consists of two types:
Artificially (experimentally) created situations
The influence on attitudes of motion pictures, television, and advertisements
Media has had both positive and negative effects depending on the:
Program, situation and subjects exposed

Education and Mass Media

Well constructed programs tend to have an impact on reducing prejudice
To be effective: address cognitive, affective, & action tendency dimensions
Some programs only focus on the cognitive or affective

Education and Mass Media

Formal education is related to a reduction in prejudice
Formal education may not reduce prejudice uniformly within a group.
Mass media may reduce prejudice without the need of specially designed programs

Avoidance versus Friendship

Social Distance
The tendency to approach or withdraw from a racial group
It is difficult to quantify the extent of prejudice between groups

Avoidance versus Friendship

Measure the relative extent of prejudice between groups
Emory Bogardus’ Scale
Used to measure social distance empirically
And describes different degrees of social contact or social distance

Corporate Response: Diversity Training

Prejudice carries a cost
Most organizations have initiated some form of diversity training
The effectiveness of diversity training programs
Diversity training should not be separated from other aspects of the organization

Ways to Fight Hate

1. Act
2. Unite
3. Support The Victims
4. Do Your Homework
5. Create An Alternative

Ways to Fight Hate

6. Speak Up
7. Lobby Leaders
8. Look Long Range
9. Teach Tolerance
10. Dig Deeper