Prejudice and stereotyping are biases that work together to create a social inequality in our society. Prejudice refers to the attitudes and feelings that is either positive or negative about members of other groups. Then in comparison, stereotypes is a specific beliefs about different groups. For example, such as what members of a particular group look like, how they behave, or their abilities. In America, there are many people who have different races and ethnicities. In this paper, I will discuss prejudices and stereotypes that I hold. As a Christian, I try not to be biased on different races or ethnicities. However, I am only human and I still form these bias opinions.
Some bias opinions that I have are about African Americans. I believe
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that I formed these racial stereotypes because our society creates these opinions. For example, I think that many African Americans come from broken homes and the majority are criminals. Furthermore, that all African Americans are ghetto and lazy and they do not have any motivation to succeed in life. Some others included, Africa Americans are uneducated and that they do not have potential to get a better job compared to a white person. Alternatively, I have some bias ethnicities about Muslims. For example, some bias opinions include that all Muslims are terrorists and want to kill Americans after the incident on September 11, 2001. Also, that Muslim husbands are controlling and like to dominant every situation. In addition, Muslim husbands beat up their wives and do not let them be independent individuals. Lastly, a bias ethnicities is that Muslim women have no rights and their husband have more freedom. In many of my social work classes, we discuss the stereotypes of different races and ethnicities and how they affect our society. I believe it is important to understand these stereotypes because it will provide me with wisdom on how to deal with different bias and prejudice situations. My professor explained that social workers must be aware of human differences and the effects they have on human behavior. She discussed strategies that social workers can avoid these prejudice and stereotype situations. The professor explained about “NASW Code of Ethics’ Standards of Practice for Cultural Competence” which provides understanding of the basic needs of all people and understands ways to empower different races and ethnicities. So, when social workers utilize the “NASW Code of Ethics” it will provided them wisdom on how to succeed avoid conflict. For example, the first standard is “Ethics and Values” which explains that social workers need to function as a professional and recognizes how personal and professional valves may conflict with other diverse clients. By applying this code, social workers can recognize different cultures and avoid stereotype situations. Another example, the third standard is about “Cross-Cultural Knowledge”. When social workers provide service to a Muslim family, the worker may seek information about their culture like the history, traditions, and family system. So, the social workers will understand their patient’s culture and values and to avoid miscommunication and conflict. Then standard six is about “Empowerment and Advocacy”. So as social workers we need to focus on our patient’s strength and not their weakness. So, with these ethical principles it will provided social workers strategies to avoid racism and ethnicities situations. This assignment was hard for me because I do not like to form opinions until I get to know someone.
However, in class I learned that it is alright to form opinions. My professor was explaining there are times when a social worker will have to understand the patient’s situation in order to help them succeed. By understanding these prejudice and stereotypes then it will help social workers understand their patient perceptive. I believe from these prejudice and stereotype bias opinions are all caused by the media. For example, the mass media has portrayed Muslims as a cult or a club where if someone joins then they are considered a terrorist. I believe that the mass media portrays Muslims from these negative bias ethnicities. I believe as nation, we need to understand that not all Muslims are terrorist. They are ordinary group of people, who want the same respect that others have. There are over millions and millions of Muslim, and only a hundred are terrorist. As a society, we need to realize that not all African Americans are these different stereotypes. That many African Americans are determine to succeed in life. I believe that our media and culture has made these prejudice and stereotypes bias opinions. As Americans, we need to make a change and respect other races and
ethnicities.
In life, there is a common ground on which most every person can relate. At one time or another, we have all been promoters of or victims of the unremitting nature of stereotypes. According to the Webster’s dictionary, a stereotype is defined as “a simplified and standardized conception or image invested with special meaning and held in common by members of a group.” Most stereotypes take on a negative form and are based on characteristics such as age, gender, race, status, and personal beliefs. Generally speaking, the greatest problem that arises with stereotypes is that they judge group of people by the characteristics and actions of their ancestors, rather than on an individual basis. More often than not, these assumptions will cause people to draw false conclusions about a person’s true character. One stereotype that developed in ancient times and has lasted throughout the centuries is that of the “greedy Jew.” Over the course of history, the Jews have discovered first-hand the destructive and gruesome effects that stereotyping has on a vulnerable people. The Jews have been and will continue to be objects of stereotyping unless something is done to stop it.
In many circles of the world, various groups of people distinguish themselves from one another through religion, language, culture, and sometimes gender. People also develop stereotypes about a particular group of people in order to identify them. However, most of the time, these stereotypes hold true for only some members of a group. Sometimes, these stereotypes are just plain misconceptions that do not even apply to the group they claim to be. Stereotypes are placed on people because it is a way to easily identify what type of person or ethnicity an individual is.
According to Realist conflict theory, the stereotypes about African Americans formed from the competition for limited resources between European settlers and slaves of African descent (Lecture 3/29/16). It is important to understand the social psychological implications of stereotyping and prejudice, to consequently become more tolerant of others. Stereotyping and prejudice are thoughts that can lead to negative actions such as discrimination, which can lead to a decreased quality of life for any group in America. In a land that has based its constitution on life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, it is profoundly unacceptable. Through recognizing stereotypes, you will realize that your perceptions of a group are not always accurate, which will ultimately help to combat prejudice.
Prejudice is the attitude of conveying negative stereotypes to a particular group, usually known as the out-groups. Usually the stereotypes are generalizations based on superficial opinions, so they have an invalid connotation behind it. Stereotypes in some cases evoke prejudice mindsets, leading to discriminate a certain ethnic group, age group, religion, seuxal orienntation, or body size. Stereotypes are usually socially learned from one’s environment and latched onto the mind of a young child. This could possibly later influence their opinion about something they are not fully educated on. One cannot control what they are taught, but one can control what they do with that information. They can either not believe a word of it or take it into
Stereotypes can be defined as sweeping generalizations about members of a certain race, religion, gender, nationality, or other group. They are made everyday in almost every society. We develop stereotypes when we are unable or unwilling to obtain all the information we would need to make fair judgments about people or situations. By stereotyping, we assume that a person or group has certain characteristics. Quite often, we develop these ideas about people who are members of groups with which we have not had firsthand contact. Stereotyping usually leads to unfair results, such as discrimination, racial profiling, and unnecessary violence, all behaviors which need to be stopped.
Since the beginning, America has always been a nation of immigrants, but many times the very same America seems to forget. As of today there are millions of immigrants who are looked down upon by American-born citizens who were freed by their immigrants ancestors generations ago. Today in the year of 2016 immigration is a burning topic in American politics and in regular discussions around the country. Many allege that Immigration has and continues to ruin America others disagree. Most of the time the people who are against immigration are the ones who only know the single stories about immigrants or simply aren 't educated enough on the topic. Unfortunately out of these single stories believed about immigrants and immigration as a whole stereotypes
For decades now, popular culture has been tainted by the perpetual use of racial stereotypes that come to us through music, television, and film. These reactionary stereotypes are often unaddressed and often permeate the minds of those too young to understand what a stereotype is. Therefore the effects of these conventionalized ideas continue to prevail throughout our society as they are repeatedly swept under the rug. However, although seemingly less common, there are also forms of media with goals of bringing attention to toxic stereotypes while still entertaining their audiences. African-Americans, Arabs, and Latin@’s are three of the most prevalent minority groups represented in the media and by analyzing the films Aladdin, Django Unchained, and the television show Devious Maids, one can become much more aware of the racial stereotypes that they are calling attention to.
In our global economy requiring functional and respectful relationships between nations, prejudice and stereotypes can be a destructive force both in the world and in individual societies, especially in diverse ones.
While similar, the terms stereotype, prejudice, and discrimination all have their own distinct meanings. Gorham defines stereotypes as the organization of beliefs and assumptions people have toward social groups (19). Stereotypes can often be misrepresentative of a particular group because people unknowingly make assumptions about other people based on the knowledge they have acquired from media and/or people not in that particular social group. Examples of stereotypes can be beliefs that people of Asian descent are inherently good at math or that all black men are criminals. Unlike stereotypes which are predetermined assumptions people make about social groups, prejudice is holding negative feelings toward a group of people without fairly
Cause and Effect Essay - The Impact of Stereotypes In today's society, our natural reaction is to put people into a specific class that we feel they fit into upon our first impression. When we were in high school, they were called clicks. There were your jocks and your cheerleaders, who were usually the most popular students. Along with stoners, nerds, and then the people who really didn't fit into any crowd, they were just there.
As Hodson and Victoria (p.344) note, human beings are not born prejudiced. They develop prejudice through socialization process. The role of family, media, and education is crucial in the prejudice in individuals. Stereotyping involves the construction of unfounded ideas and thoughts concerning an individual. Stereotyping involves the construction of unfounded ideas and thought concerning an individual in the same social context (Farley, p.21). The development of stereotypes revolves around the association of individuals with particular labels of identity. The truth is such ideas and propositions cannot be proven in most situations (Brown, p.68). Hence, the individuals who uphold stereotypes in society become prejudiced toward the victims. The difficulty associated with changing stereotypes is connected to the length of time required for internalization. Individuals in particular classes of society are exposed to stereotypes in their social environment for a considerable amount of time. In consideration of the Emmanuel Church shooting, the perpetrator expressed stereotypical idealization of the African American community. He expressed biased attitude through the sole target of African
People may say that there is no time or place where holding a stereotype or stereotyping is permissible. I would disagree with that statement by saying yes, some stereotyping is wrong but not all forms are. In this essay I will be delving into the social aspect of stereotyping and touching on how not all forms of social stereotyping are harmful and show how in some cases they are even justifiable.
If a young girl is walking alone through a park late at night and encounters three senior citizens walking with canes and three teenage boys wearing leather jackets, it is likely that she will feel threatened by the latter and not the former. Why is this so? To start off, we have made a generalization in each case. By stereotyping, we assume that a person or group has certain characteristics. Often, these stereotypical generalizations are not accurate. We are succumbing to prejudice by ?ascribing characteristics about a person based on a stereotype, without knowledge of the total facts?1.
Stereotype is a wide topic that covers many aspects in the society. Stereotypes are harmful because it makes an impulsive judgment based on immediately observable characteristics such as race, gender, and religion. Stereotype can be defined as a common belief towards a certain group of people or an individual. There are many types of stereotype and the major ones are race, gender, religion, income and age and disability. There is negative and positive stereotype but many people ignore the negative side of it and they divert their attention on positive stereotype, this i causes many problems because many people suffer because of negative stereotype. Stereotype
Most people find stereotypes to be obnoxious, especially when they have to do with sensitive subjects like gender or race. “Stereotyping is a generalization about a group or category of people that can have a powerful influence on how we perceive others and their communication behaviors” (Floyd, 61). Because they underestimate the differences among individuals in a group, stereotyping can lead to inaccurate and offensive perceptions of other people. Although stereotypes are prevalent in almost every society, becoming aware of our perceptions of others, as well as differentiating between both positive and negative stereotypes can help us overcome those stereotypes.