Theories Of Prejudice

Theories of Prejudice

Prejudice: is an unjustified or incorrect attitude (usually negative) towards an individual based solely on the individual’s membership of a social group, for example a person may hold prejudiced views towards a certain race or gender. A prejudiced person may not act on their attitude. So that means someone can be prejudice towards a certain group but not discrimate against them, an example of this was in the scene when the couple was walking down the street and as the two black man walked towards them she clinched her purse and held her husband even tighter. She judged them without even knowing what their intentions were. The interesting part was she was right and they need up carjacking them

Discrimination on the other

hand is the behavior or actions usually negative, towards an individual or group of people especially on the basis of sex/race/social class. For example someone who discrimates against gender. Such as after a divorce women receive primary custody of the children far more often than man. This concept was In the very beginning of the movie the two men were eating at a restaurant and believed that they were being discriminated by their waitress. They felt like they weren't getting the same service as the other people in the establishment because they were black. They believed that the waitress was ignoring them and not giving them the attention. They said the waitress thought that black people do not tip so they weren't getting good customer service like the others.
Two theories of prejudice are:
Scapegoat: says that prejudiced people believe they are society’s victims, in other words you may not blame other people for your short comings.

Example if a professor tells you that you have a test on Friday and you chose not to study till Thursday, you cannot but the blame on your professor if you fail. When you connect this theory to the movie Crash you see this theory in the scene when the family that owns the shop was robbed and they try and make an insurance claim they were denied coverage. In this situation there was more than one person that found a scapegoat. The insurance company blamed the owner for not fixing the door. The owner blamed the locksmith for not fixing the

lock.
Labeling theory: why certain people are viewed as deviants and others engaging in the same behavior are not, which means if a black person is driving a BMW with tinted windows late at night he must be a drug dealer, or he stole it. On the other hand if a white man is in the same situation he is just that, a white man driving in a tinted BMW late at night. The scene that showed the concept of labeling theory was when the hate crime was committed against the Persians. The people that vandalized his store wrote rag heads on the walls and other derogatory remarks towards the family even though Persians have no affiliation to Iranians. But because of their skin color and the different language they label them as such.
Individual and institutional discrimination
First you have individual discrimination, which refers to the discrimination against one person by another.

It is a personal act of discrimination caused by certain negative attitudes toward another person. On the other end institutional discrimination is concerned with discrimination that has been incorporated into the structures, processes and procedures of organizations either because of prejudice or because of failure to take into account the needs of different social identities.

When speaking about individual the scene that best describes it is the scene with Sandra Bullocks character. When her and her husband are carjacked and she tells her husband that she wants the locks changed again in the morning because she was afraid that the Mexican male who was changing them would give his “homies” the key. She states he is a gang-banger because of his shaved head, prison tattoos and his pants around his ass”

As far as an example of institutional discrimination in the movie, that would have to be the scene with Officer Ryan and his ailing father. When Officer Ryan calls the health insurance provider for help, and tries to explain his sickness to her, but she tells him there is nothing that can be done. Officer Ryan then starts to get upset with what she is saying, he asks for her name. Which happens to be Shaniqua Johnson. Which it so happens that Miss Johnson is black, at this point officer Ryan says of course your name is Shaniqua.

Concepts:
Minority Group: is a group of indiviuals that are put into a group of their own just because go physical or cultural differences. Such as the black police chief told one of his new deputies that he needed keep quiet to get along in order for the chief to not loose his job because racism was an ok norm on the LA police force, so the deputy made up an excuse of flatulence in order to not be with his new partner anymore because he was racist toward black people.
Immigration: someone who comes to a new country permanently in the movie Crash one of the carjackers had stolen a white truck. When he went to turn it in at the chop shop they discovered more then what they expected. There was a truck load of people from another country. The looks on their faces was full of confusion. The carjacker decided to let them go. As they were released from the back of the truck they all got out one by one the look on their face was up amazement and discovery.
Sexism: someone who shows discrimination against another because of their gender an example of this was when the police officer frisked the women. He had complete control over her and did not care about her equal rights and he had no human decency to even realize what he was doing to her. The police officer felt like a ruling and powerful man and used that control to overpower her.
Discrimination: Is when a person does not treat another the same because of what they believe in, or who they are, or where they came from. In the very beginning of the movie the two men were eating at a restaurant and believed that they were being discriminated by their waitress. They felt like they weren't getting the same service as the other people in the establishment because they were black. They believed that the waitress was ignoring them and not giving them the attention. They said the waitress thought that black people do not tip so they weren't getting good customer service like the others.
Hate crime: is when an individual takes action usually violent because of someone’s racial gender religious or social groups. In the movie “Crash” there is a Persian man that owns a convenience store. In the movie his convenience story get ransacked and vandalized due to social ignorant linkage to Iranians. They destroy everything in the store which shows that it is not a crime due to profit out of it but did it out of strong prejudice.