PREJUDICE

Prejudice, Stereotypes, and Discrimination

Prejudice, Stereotypes, and Discrimination

Introduction

As perfect as people may deem the world to be, with respect to the developments made, progressed achieved and civilizations transformed; the world and its inhabitants still lag behind in their moral development. Many individuals, who may live in castles type homes, are still occupied with their trivial mental approach in relation to the caste, creed, ethnicity, color and race of other individuals.

Thesis Statement

“Stereotyping and prejudice are detrimental to the core values and essence of our society”

Prejudice

Prejudice denotes the unfavorable and unsympathetic judgment or opinion that a person holds against the other group or class, without even acknowledging the basic and actual information and reality. It is the ill-will and hatred that a person encompasses within him towards the other person or group.

Stereotype

Stereotype is the standardized idea or belief held by a community for another community, based on some predetermined social factors they believe are different from their own. The biggest drawback of stereotyping is that it overlooks the personal capability of an individual; rather it assesses everyone belonging to the community on the preset prevailing conception.

Discrimination

Discrimination also belongs to the same group of prejudice and stereotyping; however, discrimination is not confined to the individuals belonging to the other group. The individuals or groups belonging to the same community can be a victim of discrimination based on numerous factors. Discrimination is the unfavorable or unfair treatment of an individual or section of a society based on some prejudice.

In-group vs. Out-group

The in-groups and out-groups denote the feeling and emotion of an individual towards a group or class. In “in-group”, a person feels like an integral part of that group and shares a feeling of belonging; however, in out-group a person does not possess the feeling of belonging and sees the other group as a competition or with contempt (Plous, 2002).

Personal Relation to These Terms

On a personal level, even if I have not been a victim of any of the previously mentioned terminologies; yet, their prevalent existence in the society is evident. For instance, after the attack of 9/11, the Muslim community of America and around the world has been stereotyped as “terrorists”, and they often fall victim of discrimination in certain aspects of society.

Social, Cognitive, and Societal Origins of Prejudice and Stereotypes and Influences That Promote Stereotyping

The origins of the stereotype, prejudice and discrimination take place as soon as a person is made part of ...