UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS
AND
SPECIAL POPULATIONS
VOCABULARY
• Stereotyping – Generalization of attributes to
all members of a group without regard to truth
or variations due to individual differences.
• Discrimination – Treatment or consideration
based on group membership rather than
individual merit.
• Prejudice – Pre-judged beliefs against a group
based on stereotypical thinking.
• Bias – Leaning towards a particular group
based on stereotypical thinking.
RACIAL DIVERSITY
RACE IS A SOCIOLOGICAL,
NOT A BIOLOGICAL CONSTRUCT
There is no gene for race.
The DNA of any two humans is 99.97% identical.
We are all related, all connected, all one people.
CHARACTERISTICS OF
UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS
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•
•
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Identifiable sub-population
Not necessarily a numerical minority
Subject to stereotyping
Discriminatory treatment
Inequality of power
Underrepresentation politically and economically
More accurate terminology:
– Dominant/subordinate groups rather than
majority/minority groups
Protected classes – groups protected against
discrimination by various federal laws:
– Race, color, ethnic origin, gender, age, religion, disability
TYPES OF LEGISLATION
•Equal Opportunity Laws
Equalize access and opportunities by prohibiting
discrimination in policies and practices.
•Affirmative Action
Requires outreach to underrepresented groups to compensate for
the effects of past discrimination. Requires good faith efforts to
insure participation/inclusion of minorities, women, and other
underrepresented groups.
HISTORICAL TREATMENT OF
MINORITY GROUPS
•Extermination – genocide, ethnic cleansing
•Domination/enslavement
•Expulsion
•Segregation/apartheid
•Assimilation/integration
•Pluralism/multiculturalism
In the past, the dominant American ideal was
assimilation. America was the world’s great “melting pot”.
Social service workers and educators attempted to integrate
minority groups into the mainstream culture.
Today the emphasis is on appreciation of cultural
diversity and pluralism. The presence of minority groups and
their differing ways of life enriches American society.
THEORETICAL EXPLANATIONS FOR
PREJUDICE AND DISCRIMINATION
• Cultural Transmission Theory/Ethnocentrism –
Prejudice is learned. We internalize our own culture which
becomes the standard by which all other cultures are
judged.
• Frustration-Aggression – Scapegoating – Blaming
another group for one’s own failures.
• Authoritarian Personality – Inflexible, rigid personality
type characterized by adherence and obedience to rules and
authority, accompanied by fear of, and low tolerance for
difference.
• Power Theory – Competition and exploitation. Negative
views of subordinate groups justifies their unequal
treatment and exploitation.
SUBORDINATE GROUPS
AND SELF-IMAGE
We learn who we are
from our treatment by other people.
Cooley’s looking glass self
Charles Horton Cooley (1902
Clark Doll Test
In testimony used to challenge school desegregation in South
Carolina, later used in the famous U.S. Supreme Court Brown
vs. Topeka Kansas school desegregation ruling, Dr. Clark
described the reactions of 16 black girls, aged between 6-9
years old, to a choice of white or brown dolls:
•10 preferred the white doll
•11 said that the black doll looked bad
•9 said that the white doll was the nice one
His testimony was used as evidence of the harm done
to a minority child’s self-image from exposure to the values of
the dominant population.
THE DUAL PERSPECTIVE
Norton (1978)
FORCES AFFECTING SELF-IMAGE DEVELOPMENT OF
SUBORDINATE POPULATIONS
Each person is a member of two social environments:
• The nurturing environment – the individual’s immediate
emotional, physical, and social environment. Includes family,
and sometimes neighborhood and neighborhood institutions
such as church and school.
• The sustaining environment – the dominant social system in
which the individual must interact to obtain the necessities of
life; employment, shopping, etc.
• A strong nurturing environment, supporting the individual’s
minority identity and providing a strong, positive self-image
protects the individual from the damaging impact of
stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination encountered in
contact with the dominant culture.