The Social Aspects of Prejudice

Prejudice is an opinion or attitude about a group of people that is based upon lack of understanding or incorrect information. It is making assumptions about children and young people because they belong to a particular group. Prejudiced attitudes can all too often be found among children, even at a very young age. Research has shown that children are capable of holding prejudices and negative attitudes towards others from the age of three. There are so many pressures on children to fit in and to conform with expected appearances and behaviour that they may be discriminated against and bullied if they do not. Both discrimination and prejudice can take a range of forms and can take place for a multitude of reason and usually occurs through lack of knowledge and understanding of diversity, every childcare professional must be conscious of the fact that a child or young person will experience some form of prejudice or discrimination against them throughout their time in school. It is down to us adults to educate and teach children to understand and respect other peoples differences in order for them to grow into mature, respectful young adults, to do this, children should be encouraged to explore and discover other cultures, beliefs and the environment around them. We should be vigilant to ensure that children respect and embrace diversity. Children can experience prejudice and discrimination the same way as adults due to race, religion, age, sex, culture or ethnicity.

Prejudice is when we have a preconceived opinion about someone or a group of people that is formed without knowledge, or even a real understanding about them.

The definition of prejudice may vary among the different psychologist but most will agree that prejudice has something to do with prejudgment, typically negative, about a group. (Fiskie, 1998; Jones, 1997; Nelson, 2002 ). According to Plous (2003), Prejudice is not exactly considered an opinion, but an attitude which includes feeling such as hating the group, rather than believing they’re bad. Within psychology, we can link prejudice with discrimination and stereotyping (Plous, 2003). Although each may go together, they can be done separately. Prejudice and discrimination are most likely absent in a positive stereo type (Plous, 2013). For example describing an ethnic group as “family oriented”. Stereo typing does little to no harm without discrimination or prejudice. A generalized form of prejudice may lack discrimination and stereo types, such as being against foreigners.

Prejudice is clearly evident in society today through jobs and trials . Prejudice viewpoints can be changed by learning to accept people for their

There is always going to be a certain level of misunderstanding or miscommunication between employees in the workplace. But when the ugly specter of prejudice appears in the workplace, based on gender, ethnicity, cultural differences, religion or skin color, it can cause serious problems and hurtful feelings. This paper offers scholarly information on prejudice in the workplace and relates as to how prejudice can be reduced.

In this modern world, prejudice is still a universal problem we still have yet to overcome. Although it is true that our society is much less prejudiced than it was 40-50 years ago, we are still struggling to create racial harmony in a world that is so diverse in terms of racial group, sexual orientations, ethnicity, nationality, religions, and so on. I think the core of prejudice comes from stereotyping, which is the generalization of motives, characteristics, or behavior to an entire group of people. In the world where media propaganda is ubiquitous, often times most stereotypes are not formed on valid experiences, instead they are based on images publicized by the mass media, or even created within our heads after seeing and hearing examples from many different sources, like movies, or even hearsay. Stereotyping is more powerful than we think, because it allows those false pictures to control our thinking that leads us to assign uniform characteristics to any person in a group, without consideration of the actual difference between members of that particular group.

If we take a look at prejudice, which can be defined as socially shared judgement or evaluation of the group including feelings with judgement (Fiske, 2010). Prejudice is one that addresses both explicit and implicit nature (Crisp & Turner, 2010). It can also be based upon a number of factors that are effective from a social perspective as well. Some of the factors that can lead to prejudice is sex, race, age, and also sexual orientation. Some of the issues that occur may be pertaining to racism, sexism, classicism, homophobia, nationalism, and also religious prejudice as well. It can occur when stereotype is put into motion, which leads to a negative outcome. It can be looked at as an attitude, thus has affective, cognitive behavioral component as well. Prejudice has the ability to affect all of us, which include majority group members as well as minority. Gordon Allport discusses prejudice and stereotypes, emerges in part as a result of normal human thinking.

Prejudice influences the historical record because those opinions and beliefs are handed down through the generations and believed by others due to the influence those that express those views have on others. In the context of the Understanding Prejudice quiz about slaves and their treatment, the textbook states that “contemporary institutional and individual racism, which is central to today’s conflicts, has its origins in the institution of slavery” (Schaefer, 2015, p 168) which was embraced by many of our past presidents and which allowed long-standing prejudice and discrimination to occur against black people. The prejudicial theories of authoritarian personality, exploitation, and normative come into play as well as the theoretical perspectives of functionalist and labeling.

The psychological perspectives concerning prejudice is assuming someone or something is a certain way before actually knowing and having facts. The sociology book gives a few examples of theories on prejudice. It is often to hear an assumption rather than the facts when something or someone is referenced. I believe people judge to quickly. Anymore we are so focused on first impressions we tend to forget who we are. Also, it is typical to try something out once and if you were not pleased we often not give it a second chance.

Fat people are funny. If you wear Crocs means that you are a complete dork. If you are pretty, you are smart, and if you are ugly you are stupid. Little old ladies that have a lot of cats are nice. These are examples of prejudice. It is in schools, on the radio, and on TV. Prejudice is what we think of people or things just because other people look like or act like that. Prejudice is a preconceived idea that is in no way based on a reason or actual experience or evidence. Prejudice is a major problem for many people in the United States and many other places in the world, but the more you know about prejudice, the easier it is to identify and stop it.

For century’s man’s thoughts, ideals, perceptions, and actions have caused tumultuous inquiraries. We as a society have learned to accept discrimination, prejudice, and stereotyping. These malefactors have caused great malice. Consequently, these dehumanizing practices are not only present in America which is considered to be the “melting pot”, but globally. Everyone is eccentric in their own way. We all have the God given right, and the natural right to habitat, in peace and harmony, and to be free of afflictions from others. Our Forefathers did not have discrimination, prejudice, or even stereotyping in mind when it came to building up America. In fact these cancerous inklings imbrue the very fabric that America was made of. Discrimination,

On July 6 of this year another innocent man was killed by cops in Missouri. Supposedly

In our society, we are able to witness how our prejudices can affect the way people live. At times, there are people who come forward and confront the injustice in our lives and try helping the victims. However, there are numerous occasions were we fail to confront the prejudice, and take no notice of the consequences that may result; this is evident in the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird where the numerous prejudices and injustices heaped upon various characters brings the society itself to moral conflict. We witness first hand how failing to confront various types of prejudices may result large repercussions.

Devine (1989) argues that stereotypes are inevitable on the basis that stereotypes and prejudice coexist and that stereotyping occurs automatically. Devine attempts to prove this hypothesis in three experiments. Devine reasons that “as long as stereotypes exist, prejudice will follow.” This hypothesis is rooted in a correlation. Prejudice and stereotypes are related, however there is no clear evidence of causality; Knowledge of a stereotype does not mean an individual agrees with it.

To begin, socialization or having one’s upbringing (family, media, etc.) teach and perpetuate prejudice. According to social cognitive theory, through direct instruction, modeling, and other social influences on learning, prejudice is viewed as an attitude that is formed as other attitudes are formed. For instance, the media,