PATTERNS OF INTERGROUP
RELATIONS
Chapter 10, Section 2
DISCRIMINATION

Discrimination= denial of equal treatment
to individuals based on their group
membership.

Involves a behavior of some sort.
Can be individual or societal.
 Forms of societal discrimination:

Legal discrimination= discrimination upheld
by law; laws can be changed to remove the
discrimination.
 Institutionalized discrimination=
discrimination that arises due to societal
structure.

PREJUDICE

Prejudice= an unsupported generalization
about a category of people.

Refers to the attitudes one has towards another–
usually negative.
Stereotype= an oversimplified, exaggerated,
or unfavorable generalization about a
group of people.
 Robert Merton believed that if confronted with
a stereotype long enough, individuals
would start to exhibit behaviors that makes
the stereotype.


Known as self-fulfilling prophecy.
PREJUDICE (CONT’D)

Prejudicial beliefs often used to justify
discrimination are often forms of racism– the
belief that one’s own race or ethnic group is
naturally superior.
SOURCES OF DISCRIMINATION

Sociological
Some prejudices are embedded in social norms.
 Maintain membership within a group


Psychological
Individual personality of someone lends to prejudice–
Theodor Adorno
 Scapegoating= placing the blame for one’s
troubles on an innocent individual or group.


Economic
Competition over scarce resources
 Dominant group encourages competition between
minority groups

PATTERNS OF MINORITY GROUP
TREATMENT
o
o
o
o
Cultural pluralism= encourage ethnic and
racial variety.
Assimilation= culturally distinct groups
blend together to form one single group
with a common culture.
Legal protection= minority rights protected
by law.
Segregation= minority group physically
separated from dominant.
De jure segregation= based on laws
• De facto segregation= based on informal norms.
•
PATTERNS OF MINORITY GROUP
TREATMENT (CONT’D)
Subjugation= dominant group controls
minority group through force.
 Population transfer= dominant group moves
minority group to new locations within or
outside the country.
 Extermination= dominant group attempts to
destroy minority group.

Genocide= when the goal of extermination is
intentional destruction of an entire targeted
population.
 Ethnic cleansing= removing a group from an
area through terror, expulsion or mass murder.
