PREJUDICE

SW 6103: Human Behaviour and Social

Environment

Group-”D”

Synopsis

o Concept and Characteristics – Ms. Saritao Origin and Process of Prejudice – Mr.

Rupesho Sources of Prejudice – Mr. Ravio Applicability in Social Work – Ms. Sakshio Concluding Remarks – Mr. Ravi

Prejudice…Negative Attitude

“Prejudice decides our perception of reality”

Concept

o Prejudice is an attitude that predisposes a person to think, perceive, feel and act in favorable or unfavorable way

o In social psychology ...is defined as a negative attitude

Characteristics

o …requiredo …has emotional termso …directed towards the group as a

wholeo …based on rigid/inflexible

generalizationso …not factual

Prejudice

Origin and Process

o Prejudice is learnedo Develops during Socializationo Views expressed by parents,

friends, teachers and others

Early Experience: The Role of Social Learning

Early Experience: The Role of Social Learning

o Social Norms of groups: “If the members of my group dislike the person ‘X’, many children seem to reason, ‘then I should too!”

o Mass Media

Origin and Process contd…

Direct Intergroup Conflict

“Competition as a source of Prejudice”

Origin and Process contd…

o Things people want and value most are always in short supply

o Realistic Conflict Theory: Prejudices stems from competition among social groups over valued commodities or opportunities

o As such competition continues – members of group involved come to view each other in increasingly negative terms

Social Categorization: The ‘Us’ vs. ‘Them’ Effect

Origin and Process contd…

o View other person as belonging either to their own group (ingroup) or another group (outgroup)

o Commonly based on gender, religion, age, ethnic background, occupation, income…

o People view ‘Us’ category in favorable terms – ‘Them’ category – perceived more negatively

o Social Cognition: ways in which we think about others and make judgements about them

o Stereotypes: allow us to make quick and dirty judgements about others without engaging in complex and more effortful thought

Origin and Process contd…

Sources of Prejudice

o Socialo Emotionalo Cognitive

An outcome of the intricate interplay of three distinct sources:

Social Sources of Prejudice

1. Inequality and Prejudice:“Unequal status breeds prejudice”

“Discrimination breeds prejudice, and prejudices legitimize discrimination”

(Pettigrew, 1980)

2. Religion and Prejudice:“By defining and deciding what is

sacred/sin or ethical/unethical”

Social Sources of Prejudice contd…

3. In Group and Out Group:4. Conformity:“Most of the people tend to follow the

path of least resistance and conform to the existing trend”

- David G. Myers

An inherent human need to get liked and accepted

5. Self fulfilling Prophecy:Social beliefs tend to be self confirming

6. Institutional Support:Socio-political Institutions [schools, governments, media etc] reflect and

reinforce prevailing attitudes

Social Sources of Prejudice contd…

Emotional Sources of Prejudice

“Prejudice is bred by social situations, emotional factors add fuel to fire”

1. Frustration and Aggression: Intimidating or Vague causes to frustration

redirect or hostility in prejudices

“Deprivation leads to passions which provoke prejudices”

- Neal Miller and Richard Bugelski, 1948

2. Personality Factor:Two people with equal reasons need not

be equally prejudiced“People hold to beliefs and attitudes

that satisfy unconscious needs”- Sigmund Freud

Emotional Sources of Prejudice contd…

a) Need for status: to perceive ourselves as having status, we

need people below us“Prejudice is often greater among those

low or slipping on the socio-economic ladder and among those whose positive

self image is being threatened”- Lemyre & Smith, 1985; Thompson & Crocker,

1985

Emotional Sources of Prejudice contd…

b) The Authoritarian Personality“Authoritarian People often are harshly

disciplined…leading them to repress their hostilities and impulses…makes

them to project these onto outgroups”

- David G. Myers

Emotional Sources of Prejudice contd…

Cognitive Sources of Prejudices

Prejudice is also a by-product of normal thinking processa)Categorization: to organize the world by clustering objects into groups…exaggerating the uniformity within a group and the differences among groups

b) Distinctive Stimuli: Distinctive cases fuel stereotypes …assumes a correlation between group membership and individual’s characteristics

Ultimate attribution Error:

Assigning outgroup members’ negative behaviour to their natural character

- Thomas Pettigrew (1979, ’80)

Cognitive Sources of Prejudices

Prejudices and social work practice

o Principles of social work seek to help the social worker adopt an objective approach while dealing with the client.

o The social worker has to rise above his own prejudices and stereotypes to be effective in helping the client.

o We have to learn to accept the person as s/he is irrespective of his/her cultural, social, economic background.

o Discrimination based on prejudice is not acceptable, especially not in social work or any public service.

o Discrimination founded on a professional judgment on a presenting issue, based on knowledge, assessed evidence and interpretation, is at the heart of good social work practice.

Prejudices and social work practice contd…

o "These anxieties about discrimination have deep roots, we argue - in social work training, professional identity and organizational cultures - and the remedies for these go beyond the remit of any single council or inquiry report”

o The social worker should understand the cultural context which gives rise to prejudices.

Prejudices and social work practice contd…

Personal Field Experience…

o All the practitioners working in this field [HIV and AIDS] have to be cautious to keep themselves protected .

o Even doctors who have been associated to the field of HIV and AIDS have been unable to rise from their prejudices about such people.

o Cases of discrimination have been reported from various hospitals etc.

o It is equally important for a person to know how the disease is not spread as it is for a person to know how it is spread because incorrect knowledge gives rise to prejudices and discrimination

o The major cause of transmission of the disease is through sexual route therefore people living with hiv and aids fear discrimination and stigmatization.

Personal Field Experience…

Concluding Remarks…Stereotypes (Belief)

Prejudice (Attitude)

Biasness (Behaviour)

Discrimination (Action)

Segregation (Phenomenon)

References

o Baron, R.A. & Byrne, D., 1999. Social Psychology (8thEdition), Prentice Hall, New Delhi

o Kuppuswamy, B., 1980. Introduction to Social Psychology, Asia Publishing House (P.) Ltd., New Delhi

o Myers, David G., 2000. Social Psychology, Mc Graw-Hill, Inc, London