Ethical Issues In To Kill A Mockingbird

In 2015, there were 5,818 incidents of single-bias hate crime reported by the FBI ("Latest Hate Crime Statistics Released."). This goes to show that while times have changed since apartheid, prejudice behavior is still an enormous issue. With this in mind, the question arises: Is prejudiced behavior inherent or acquired? This complicated idea is displayed through the captivating novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, and other literary sources. Prejudice behavior is learned not born.

Through the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout’s innocence of the tense situations demonstrates the true roots of xenophobia. When Scout makes small talk with Mr. Cunningham, she is completely unaware of the tense situation, “I was advising him, when I slowly awoke

When Scout encounters Cecil Jacobs in the school-yard, and she says, "My folks said your daddy was a disgrace an' that nigger oughta hang from a water-tank." (Lee 102). Cecil Jacobs is influenced by her parent’s opinion and states them openly without understanding the influence of the words. Through this, it is understood that Children's thoughts and feelings are significantly influenced by the people around them. Children do not form prejudiced opinions on their own, they are influenced by those around them. Parents provide a long-lasting influence on their children, so if parents are prejudiced than usually so are their children. This idea is seen through Albert Bandura’s social learning theory. Bandura states that “behavior is learned from the environment through the process of observational learning” (Bandura). Therefore, a child is able to learn prejudice by their parents influence and by observation. If they observe that “some people don't associate with members of certain groups”, then they will grow up thinking that this is the way to act around them. As what happened with Cecil Jacobs, A child who overhears a racial slur from a valued adult will likely repeat it, and to the extent that the child understands the meaning behind it, will come to hold the associated negative belief about the group ("Prejudice and Discrimination is Learned."). Through this, one understands that children learn based on the people around them; they learn prejudice behavior through those that are influential in their