Prejudice and Discrimination Unit 3

1. Can be positive or negative Intergroup Relations Prejudice: An attitude towards others based on their membership in a particular group 1. Can be positive or negative

Intergroup relations Discrimination: When prejudice is expressed in behavior; unequal treatment Legalized discrimination: upheld by law Institutionalized discrimination: outgrowth of structure of society

Table Talk Is it possible for a person to have prejudice attitudes and not discriminate? Is it possible for a person to discriminate and to not be prejudice?

Intergroup Relations Merton’s Patterns of Prejudice and Discrimination: Individuals can combine discriminatory behavior and prejudicial attitudes in four possible ways……

Intergroup prejudice Stereotypes: mental images in which specific mental, physical and behavioral traits are uncritically attributed to members of a group

Intergroup Relations Development of Racial Prejudice Children are sensitive to differences as early as 4 or 5 Values, beliefs, stereotypes, etc. that nourish prejudice are learned in the home and from other major agents of socialization The self-fulfilling prophecy takes place when traits attributed to minority group may be adopted by the minority group

Tendency to evaluate your own group as superior Out-group homogeneity Ethnocentrism Tendency to evaluate your own group as superior Out-group homogeneity Cognitive process that accentuates differences of those outside an individual’s group and minimize differences within individual’s group Group members assumed to have more similar attitudes than they really do

wusses

Reducing prejudice and discrimination Historically 1954, hope was integration would reduce prejudice and discrimination In many cases, integration heightened the problem

Reducing prejudice and discrimination Successful integration requires: Firm endorsement by those in authority Absence of competition among members of different racial groups Equal status of groups Contact that would permit learning about each other

Table talk With your table, discuss what is the difference between prejudice and discrimination. How have your attitudes of prejudice changed?