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The role of social identity
The role of social identity
The role of social identity
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Identity theory in terms of gender and self
There are two important parts to our self-concept: personal and social identity. Our social identities are extracted from the group we belong to. Social identity theory is the main reason we see ingroup biasing. Social identity is highly effected by self-esteem. So, naturally, we want to maintain a high level of self-esteem. When our group succeeds, we succeed as individuals and in return we “bask in the glory.” But, if our group’s self-esteem is threatened, we engage in ingroup biasing by thinking our group is better than another’s. “Individuals with high explicit self-esteem but low implicit self-esteem often lash out at others who threaten their fragile feelings of self-worth. At the same time,
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• By teaching about it: Many people don’t know what to do if they have been assaulted. They also don’t want to come forward about it because a lot of victims think no one will believe them. Education about how to help someone who has faced these things is extremely low, so by teaching about the subject we can help decrease sexual assault.
• Increase security on campuses: Security is a way for people to feel more comfortable walking around their campuses. Not only that, but increasing security provides more support for people in these situations. By increasing security, we decrease the risk for sexual assault.
• Have intervention programs: Changing social perspectives about gender roles and reducing rape myths are extremely important
Oftentimes, the things individuals take for granted as preexisting facts are merely the products of social construction, which exert tremendous impacts on belief and action. Men and women are socially constructed categories inscribed by norms of masculinity and femininity that enables rape to occur. Catharine MacKinnon claims that rape is defined in a male perspective, which lacks the account of female experience. On the other hand, Sharon Marcus argues that rape is a constructed language that scripts the female body. As bell hooks points out, black men celebrate “rape culture” as a mean of expressing patriarchal dominance and endorsing female subordination. In order to redefine rape and to develop effective rape prevention, it is crucial to deconstruct the predetermined assumptions about men and women. Rape is socially constructed, through the ways how individuals possess misogynistic ideologies and endorse patriarchal power, turning the erotic fantasy of male dominance into “reality”.
In today’s society, there is evidence that gender roles hold high standards in forming an identity, whether that gender is male or female. These standards put pressure on either gender to uphold them and commit to specific behaviors/actions that validate their very being. For men, this includes being considered masculine, or portraying the sense that they are authoritative over others, in which this includes displaying attitudes that contribute to female subordination. According to Pascoe (2016) in his article “Good Guys Don’t Rape” men are given the opportunity to challenge rape yet reinforce rape attitudes at the same time that are contained within rape culture and masculinity considered “norms.” Pascoe, illustrates that rape can be seen
Sexual assault is defined as “any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient.” (“Sexual Assault”, 2nd heading). An average of 237,868 Americans (ages 12+) are sexually assaulted per year. This translates to an american being sexually assaulted every two minutes. This does not even include all of the children who are victims of sexual assault. The government has tried to combat these appallingly high statistics with various pieces of legislature, including Title IX.
Sexual assault is defined as any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient. Falling under the definition of sexual assault are sexual activities as forced sexual intercourse, forcible sodomy, child molestation, incest, fondling, and In the United States 80% of sexual assault victims are under the age of 30. Of that 80%, 44% are under the age of 18 (RAINN, 2016). That leaves 36% of victims between the ages of 18 and 30. These percentages become even more alarming when that 80% is of about 293,000 victims of secual assualt each year (RAINN, 2016). It is estimated that 1 in every 6 women in the US has been or will be victims of sexual assault in their lifetime. The risks of sexual assault increase on college campuses. Women ages 18-24 who are enrolled in college are 3 times more likely than women in general to suffer from sexual violence (RAINN, 2016). One would think that with all these women being sexually assaulted, one would hear more about it, or perhaps the police stations would constantly be busy. This is not the case. Sexual assault is one of the most unreported crimes, with 68% still being left unreported (RAINN, 2016). This could be because of every 100 rapists, only 2 will spend a day in jail. Of the 32 out of 100 that would be reported, only 7 are referred to an arrest (RAINN, 2016). Why would men or women want to report sexual assault when the system that is supposed to protect them fails so often, and why does this system continue to fail?
People go through many obstacles when they face their social identity. Some can overcome their differences, but others may not have they change to even face them due to the treatment that they get from society. Social identity is the one of many controversial and complex problems that many individuals deal with. Because, sometimes it used to be misunderstood making reference to racism and/or others complex matters. “On Being a Cripple” and “How It Feels to Be Colored” are two essays in which both characters suffer from some kind of discrimination. Indeed, in “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” by Zora Neale Hurston and “On Being a Cripple” by Nancy Mairs, each author shows different attitude, endures challenges, and change toward social identity.
It is not a topic that is brought up often, especially at schools or at gatherings, yet it is crucial that everyone be educated, or at least informed on a topic that affects women every day. “Given that sexual violence continues to occur at high rates in the United States, it is vital that we understand attitudes and cultural norms that serve to minimize or foster tolerance of sexual violence” (Aosved, 481). Growing rates of sexual violence goes to prove that it is not taken seriously by many, especially when myths excuse the actions of the perpetrator and instead guilt victims into thinking they are responsible for the horrible act. Burt (1980), in her article titled, “Cultural myths and support for rape” attempts to make sense of the importance of stereotypes and myths, defined as prejudicial, stereotypes, or false beliefs about rape, rape victims and rapists- in creating a climate hostile to rape victims (Burt, 217). Examples of rape myths are such sayings as “only bad girls get raped”; “women ask for it”; “women cry rape” (Burt, 217). This only goes to prove that rape myths against women always blame and make it seem like it is the women’s fault she was raped and that she deserved it for “acting” a certain way. McMahon (2007), in her article titled, “Understanding community-specific rape myths” explains how Lonsway and Fitzgerald (1994) later described rape myths as “attitudes and beliefs that are generally
We all have the means and capability to make a change in this world for the better of sexual assault. Whether it be reporting the incident, the victim retelling his or her story to those who’ll listen, or forming groups against any mean of sexual assault. This would greatly help indeed, but take this into consideration; what will happen if such a thing were never to be done? That being the case, we would more than likely suffer in the long run for having much more campus attenders being violated and sexually assaulted. Especially for our known individuals who’re attending schools for semesters; we’re basically saying that we could care less about the wellbeing of our friends, family, and associates who are by themselves on campuses; that if they get sexually assaulted, it’ll be their own faults. In actuality, the fault will have been ours. We don’t want that, do
This essay will be looking to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the social identity theory with studies to support.
In all aspects of their lives we associate with various groups, for example demographic, cultural or peer groups. Social Identity theory developed by Henri Tajfel in 1979 explains how people develop a sense of belonging and membership in particular groups. This theory explains behaviors in terms of social groups, we form social groups and create perceptions of others and ourselves that are influenced by the various groups to which we belong. A social group is a set of individuals who hold a common social identification or view themselves as members of the same social category (Chen & Li, 2009). Individuals can have multiple, co-occurring identities which could vary. This paper aims to explain how the Social Identity theory is used to explain violence and prejudice behavior and it also looks at the advantages and disadvantages of this theory compared to other theories in explaining the same behavior.
According to a statement addressing the sexual victimization of college women The Crime and Victimization in America states that, “ One out of four women will be sexually assaulted on a college campus.” This disturbing fact has not minimized throughout the years, instead it is continuing to worsen throughout college campuses. Sexual assault is not an act to be taken lightly. Society must stop pinpointing the individuals who commit these crimes one by one, but rather look at the problem as a whole and begin to understand the main cause of sexual assault and possible methods to reduce these acts of sexual coercion.
Since sexual assault is a big deal and very important and people need to be more aware about it and how young ladies are affected by it. Did you know, “The most recent reports show that 16 forcible sexual assaults were reported at Yale University in 2012, 13 such assaults at UConn and 12 at Connecticut College the same year? In 2011, Yale reported 18 forcible sexual assaults, UConn reported eight and Connecticut College reported four” (Yale, UConn and Connecticut College Have Most Sexual Assaults in State, Reports Show)? One of the reasons I support sexual assault getting noticed on college campuses is because every female or male should feel safe no matter what. If a female or male was sexually assaulted they should feel safe enough to go to someone and tell them what happen and
Many of the attitudes, beliefs, and mistaken ideas about rape have been with us for centuries. By looking at myths, such as “women ask for it,” and “it would do some women good to get raped,” from a historical perspective, lead us for better understanding how they evolved. Women are still seen as the property of men, are protected as such. Men and women are still taught to occupy very different roles in today’s world. Men are usually more aggressive, and women are seen as passive. (Vogelman) This socialization process is changing, but slowly.
Social identity is what everyone is focused on, but most definitely not their favorite matter. In the words of Peter J. Burke, “Social identity theorists have argued that because people define themselves in terms of their social group membership and enact roles as part of their acceptance of the normative expectations of ingroup members, the concept of role is subsumed under the concept of group” (4). All this society is focused on is finding where everyone fits in it. And if the people do not fit perfectly in whichever faction they may choose, they are exiled into being factionless. This is beginning to sound more and more like a “perfect” society, isn’t it? “People who get these kinds of results are…’ She looks over her shoulder like she expects someone to appear behind her, ‘are called… Divergent.’ She says the last word so quietly I almost don’t hear it, and her tense, worried look returns” (Roth 22). The fact that when Tris gets these results, Tori Wu—the person who administers the aptitude test for her—is completely and utterly terrified for her being divergent, shows how dark their society is. It is modeled in such a “cookie-cutter” way, that if someone does not exactly fit in the way that the society wants them to, they are automatically an outsider. Tris constantly fights social identity all throughout the book; it is almost like peer pressure, but from society alone. With this social identity, one is usually classified in terms of what group they belong to. According to critic Kay Deaux, “to the extent that one defines oneself in terms of a particular group, it affects the behaviors one enacts for oneself and the way one interacts with others who may be members of a different group.” This quote explains how differently i...
In conclusion, social identity theory suggests that intergroup members will discriminate the out-group to increase their own self-image. There are four main concepts in the theory and they are supported by studies such as Cialdini et al. and Tajfel. The theory has both strengths such as it is supported by large amount of research and it demonstrates the roles of social categorization in intergroup behaviours but also limitations such as aim of the theory to favour situational factors rather than dispositional factors is not supported by evidence and that self-esteem hypothesis is not longer central to social identity theory. Therefore, social identity theory can be used to explain how we from our individual and group identities in terms of “in” and “out” groups. It can also be used to explain why prejudice exists in all human societies.
A person is not merely a single subject distinguished from all the others. It is especially a being too which is attributed a relative autonomy in relation to the environment with which it is most immediately in contact.