Discrimination Whereas prejudice is an attitude. discrimination involves actiON or practices of dominant-group members (or their representatives) that have a harmful impact on members of a subordinate group (Feagin and Feagin. 2008). Prejudiced attitudes do not always lead to discriminatory behavior. As shown in ~ Figure 10.1.the sociologist Robert Merton (1949) identified four combinations of attitudes and responses. Unprejudiced nondiscriminators are not personally…

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Theories of Prejudice Are some people more prejudiced than others? To answer this question. some theories focus on how individuals may transfer their internal psychological problem onto an external object or person.  Others look at factors such as social learning and personality types.  he frustration-aggression hypossis states that people who are frustrated in their efforts to achieve a highly desired…

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Racism As discussed later. some forms of racism are based on biological arguments about the innate inferiority of members of certain racial and ethnic groups; however,  ore-recent forms of racism have attempted to justify the unequal treatment of the same groups of people  on other grounds. The world has seen a long history of of racism: It can be…

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Prejudice Al Though there are various meanings of the word prejudice, sociologists typically use it in a specialized sense. From a sociological perspective, prejudice is a negative attitude based on faulty generalizations about members of selected racial and ethnic groups. The term prejudice is from the Latin words prae (“before”) and judicium (“judgment”). which means that people may be biased either for…

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Dominant and Subordinate Groups The terms majority group and minority group are widely used, but their meanings are less clear as the composition of the U.S. population continues to change. Accordingly. many sociologists prefer the terms dominant  and subordinate to identify power relation ships that are based on perceived racial. ethnic, or other attributes and identities. To sociologists, a…

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Racial Classifications and the Meaning of Race If we examine racial classifications throughout history. we find that in ancient Greece and Rome a person’s race was the group to which she or he belonged. associated with an ancestral place arid culture. Feom the Middle Ages until about the eighteenth century. a person’s race was based on family and ancestral ties. in…

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The Social Significance of Race and Ethnicity Race and ethnicity take on great social significance because how people act in regard to these terms drastically affects other people’s lives. including what opportunities opportunities they have. how they are treated. and even how long they live. According to the sociologists Michael Omi and Howard Winant. race “permeates every institution. every relationship. and every individual”…

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Race and Ethnicity What is race? Some people think it refers to skin color (the Caucasian “race”); others use it to refer to a religion (the Jewish “race”), nationality (the British “race”), or the entire human species (the  human “race”) (Marger,20(9). Popular usages of race have been based on the assumption that a  is a grouping or classification based…

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RACE  ETHNICITY What is the best reflection of contemporary racial and ethnic relations in the United States? Have things  really changed since the 19 0s And 19605,when racism andand overt discrimination were a way of life in many communities in this nation? The 2009 inauguration of Barack Obama as the first African American U.S. president is often referred to…

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