Prejudice ( Pre Judgement ) Essay

Prejudice will always be apart of human nature. Prejudice is when one has a preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience. Many citizens in the world do not realize they demonstrate prejudice in their life. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee illustrates prejudice through racism, social class, and sexism through certain characters, to emphasize not to judge a person before being placed in their shoes.

In today’s society, we face prejudice every day in many forms. Most people in today’s society have either been victims of prejudice or are guilty of exhibiting prejudice towards others.

It has been thoroughly thought over what current topic or issue that people experience in most environments today, at both a micro and macro level that would be able to be examined and have come to the decision of looking at the most widely discussed subject, prejudice. All people are affected by prejudice in one way or another and it can impact on people's lives depending on what form it has taken. Also to be able to acknowledge that all people can be prejudices and see this is the first step to overcoming it.. The question that has been decided upon is that of “What types of prejudice do we see commonly today and how do they affect an individual at a micro and macro level?”

Prejudice is the “injury or damage resulting from some judgment or action of another in disregard of one's rights,” according to Merriam Webster. In simpler terms, prejudice is being judged regarding one’s religion, race, personality, physical appearance, etc. Unfortunately, everyone has given or received some form of prejudice. Prejudice also exists in the government, when cases and trials are solved. This can be shown through Reginald Rose’s novel, Twelve Angry Men.

Prejudice is explained and illustrated with examples deriving from culture and treatment of African Americans and how society perceives them to be. The definition of Prejudice is, “An unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge, thought, or reason”(Dictionary.com) The majority of humans tend to judge individuals by appearance rather than personality. Prejudice and appearance are prevalent in Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein as well as today’s culture which has consequences regarding race, age, religion, etc.

Children and young people can experience prejudice and discrimination from their earliest social encounters with others. Prejudice is an unreasonable or unfair dislike or preconceived negative view of individuals belonging to a particular group. Discrimination is the bigoted behaviour of singling out a particular person or group for different treatment than the others. Both of these unacceptable responses usually arise as a result of ignorance of the benefits of diversity and a primal impulse of ‘group mentality’.

Prejudice is an opinion in which is not based on any reasoning, and may cause harm. Prejudice can be seen just about anywhere, and it affects our daily lives. There are many different ways a person can show prejudice beliefs, but why do they believe things they have never experience? Some may say it’s something personal with one’s self that causes prejudice thoughts, or some may think it their surroundings contribute as a motive.

Prejudice is “an adverse opinion or leaning formed without just grounds or before sufficient knowledge” (Merriam); according to Lystra Moore Richardson of Yale University: “prejudice… was part of the very fiber of Southern life [during the Great Depression].” With these two pieces of information, it is derived that people formed judgments and opinions of a person without just

Prejudice is something which has affected everyone at one time or another. It is like looking out a frosted window and not seeing a clear picture. When people look through a frosted window they sometimes see a blurred vision of the world outside. Sometimes we see people as very different from ourselves when really they are just a very little bit different from us. We can even see someone as an enemy instead of for who they really are. These narrow minded views in our society are prevalent, even though most of the time they are

Unfortunately due to our past history, discrimination had been among us from since decades. Discrimination and prejudice would probably be among us until the end of the world. Prejudice and discrimination is an action that treats people unfairly because of their membership in a particular social group, class, or category to which that person or thing belongs to rather on that individual. It is an unfair treatment to a person, racial group, and minority. It is an action based on prejudice.

Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future and renders the present inaccessible. (Maya Angelou) By definition prejudice is a preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience. Prejudice to others is hate, judgement, and evil. The effects of prejudice are shown in the novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, the play The Merchant of Venice, and the tragedy known as the Holocaust. Prejudice affected all people differently, but one thing is true for all; prejudice is crippling and disables those who experience it from being who they truly are and doing as they please.

In psychology, prejudice is different from discrimination. Prejudice is an unjustifiable and often negative stereotyped attitude that a person holds against the members of a particular social group. Whereas, discrimination is when prejudicial attitudes cause members of a particular group to be treated differently than others in situations that call for equal treatment. Thus, prejudice leads to discrimination. There are several factors that contribute to prejudice and discrimination, and there are many techniques for reducing the development of prejudice and discrimination.

Prejudice is a topic of interest to social psychologists and society as a whole. Prejudice can be defined as ‘an attitude that predisposes a person to think, feel, perceive and act in a favourable or unfavourable way towards a group or its individual members’ (Secord and Backman, 1974, p). Prejudice is often the cause of negative behaviour such as bullying and aggression. Discrimination such as; racism, ageism, sexism, nationalism, classism may occur as a result. Jane Elliot’s study: A Class Divided (1968) attempts to highlight prejudicial behaviour in children. Elliot divided her class into groups of eye colour. She told the children that blue eye colour defined people to be more intelligent and superior to those with brown eyes.

The definition of prejudice is the emotion component of peoples reactions to other groups that involve not only a set of beliefs, but also a deeply felt set of feeling about what is good and bad, right and wrong, and moral (Samovar 234). Prejudice can be expressed through avoidance or withdraw of contact from the disliked group, exclusion of the group, or physical attack. An example of prejudice against Muslim American is not just stereotyping them and associating them with violence, but believing that they are violent and bad because of their religion. Prejudice has a few different functions. Its first function could be ego-defense, which allows the individual to hold a prejudice why denying themselves that they actually possess the negative belief about a group of people. A second function of prejudice is utilitarian and let people think that their belief provides positive outcomes. An example of this would be an American that views Muslims as a violent group of people. This individual might believe that discriminating against Muslims will stop violent acts and create a safer community, even though their thoughts and actions might violate the rights of Muslims, such as when women are fired from their job or denied entrance to a public place because they wear hijab (Discrimination Against Muslim Women). Another function

As discussed, In the scientific field, it is understood that there are major differences between prejudice and discrimination, although seemingly similar due to their relation. However, prejudice pertains strictly to the attitude that one may develop, (Sartore-Baldwin 2013, Duckworth 2015, Mifflin Company 2002) and discrimination is defined based on actual negative actions aimed towards individuals. Prejudices may be established due to the dislike of someone 's sex, gender identity race, age, or even sexual preferences. Discrimination is based on those prejudices one develops, and that can cause one’s actions towards an individual to be negatively unjust. It is possible for an individual