Chapter 9-3
Theories of Prejudice and
Discrimination
Discrimination & Prejudice

Discrimination: the denial of equal
treatment to individuals based on their
group membership


Involves behavior
Prejudice: unsupported
generalizations about a category of
people

Involves attitudes
Discrimination
Found on an individual or societal
level
 Individual Level: name calling,
rudeness, acts of violence (1,170
blacks lynched between 1882-1970 in
the US)
 Societal Level: legal discrimination
and institutionalized discrimination

Legal Discrimination
Sanctioned by laws
 Apartheid, voting rights, Jim Crow
Laws

Institutionalized Discrimination
More resistant to change
 Over time, unequal access to
resources push minority groups into
less powerful positions
 Doesn’t require conscious
discrimination by the dominant group
to maintain inequality
 Becomes part of the social structure

Institutionalized Discrimination

EXAMPLE: Blacks denied
housing/jobs because of prejudice
become concentrated in low income
areas schools are poorly funded
children don’t gain education to
compete for good jobs can’t move
to good neighborhoods cycle of
inequality continues….
Prejudice

Stereotype: oversimplified, exaggeration
or unfavorable generalization about a
group of people

Irish, Jews, “Hillbillies” etc.
Prejudice

Self Fulfilling Prophecy: a prediction
that results in behavior that makes the
prediction come true


Told enough that you are stupid, you
believe it and live it
Racism: the belief that one’s own race
or ethnic group is naturally superior

Can lead to slavery or genocide
Sources of Discrimination &
Prejudice
Sociological Explanation: focus is on
the social norms and the socialization
process internalize prejudice
 Economic Explanation: focus is on
competition for scarce resources


Jobs for Chinese vs. whites
Sources of Discrimination &
Prejudice

Psychological Explanation: focus on
individual behavior


May have a particular type of
personality prone to discrimination
Also done through scapegoating
(blame someone for your problems
because you feel superior)

Examples?
Merton’s Patterns of Prejudice &
Discrimination
YES
NO
Prejudice
TIMID BIGOT:
NO
Discrimination
ALL WEATHER
prejudiced but LIBERAL: nonprejudiced who
doesn’t
doesn’t
discriminate
discriminate
ACTIVE
BIGOT:
FAIR
WEATHER
prejudiced who LIBERAL: nonYES
discriminates
prejudiced who
discriminates
Functionalist Perspective
• Negatives:
The social, political, educational, and
economic costs to society are extremely high
 The safety and stability of the larger society
are at risk due to violence

• Positives:
• The self-concepts within the majority group
are strengthened due to a feeling of
superiority
Conflict Theory
• A majority uses prejudice and
discrimination as weapons of power
to control a minority
• increase control over property, goods, and
other resources
• Minorities view each other as
competitors instead of allies in the
struggle against the majority
Symbolic Interactionist
Members of a society learn to be
prejudiced
 Two stages:

Pregeneralized learning period—children
overhear parents making racist statements,
but they have not yet learned to separate
people by race or ethnic group
 Total rejection stage—children can use
physical clues to sort people into groups
