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Unit 3 Social Inequality
Section 3
Theories of Prejudice and Discrimination
Section
Prejudice, Racism, and Discrimination
Individuals hold prejudices of many types. To a sociologist, though, prejudice has a very particular meaning. It refers to widely held pre- conceptions of a group (minority or majority) and its individual members.
Prejudice involves a generalization based on biased or insufficient infor- mation. Prejudiced attitudes are based on strong emotions, so they are often difficult to change, even in the face of overwhelming evidence. It is easier to explain individuals who don’t fit the stereotype as exceptions than it is to reexamine a whole set
Section
Key Terms
• prejudice • racism
• hate crime
• stereotype
• self-fulfilling prophecy
•
discrimination
Preview
Preview
Prejudice involves atti- tudes, while discrimina- tion is about behavior.
Prejudice usually leads to discrimination. Conversely, in some instances, discrimina- tion creates prejudiced atti- tudes through stereotyping. Each of the three major per- spectives looks at different aspects of prejudice.
prejudice
widely held negative attitudes toward a group (minority or majority) and its individual members
racism
of established beliefs. For ex- ample, many people believe that Asian students have a particular “gift” for mathe- matics. Suppose that Susie is one of these people. In alge- bra class, she sits next to an Asian student who is not doing well. Will Susie change her idea about the mathemat- ical abilities of Asian people as a result of this? Probably not. It will be less trouble for her to think that this one Asian student is the excep- tion to the rule.
Racism is an extreme form of prejudice, because it not only involves judging people unfairly, but it as- sumes that a person’s own race or ethnic group is supe- rior. Racists believe that dis- crimination or exclusion is morally justified because of their own natural superiority.
an extreme form of prejudice that assumes superiority of one group over others
When prejudice is used as a basis for making decisions—as in denying minorities advancement— then it becomes discrimination.