Stereotypes prejudice, and discrimination is one of the topics covered in social psychology. In most cases, these terms are used together, they exist in different societies, and they are related to different events too. Briefly, when people are biased against people that are outside their social group, this can lead to prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination. In the 21st century, these issues are becoming more complex and they influencing social interactions significantly. They create more problems relating to respect, fairness, dignity, and equality. At the same time, they have created more opportunities for aggression, hatred, and hostility among social groups. On this note, it is important to explore how prejudices, stereotypes, and discrimination occur in our society and how they affect contemporary social interactions.
As noted, in social psychology, prejudices, stereotypes, and discrimination are issues that should be well-explored because they can seriously impact on social interactions. According to the book, Principles of Social Psychology, stereotype relates to beliefs that people hold towards one or more social groups and they usually influence their actions too. Secondly, a prejudice occurs when there is an unjustifiable negative attitude towards an out-group. It is usually expressed as anger, disgust, and hatred towards members of that group. Thirdly, discrimination refers to negative and unjustifiable behaviors towards people based on their group members. Discrimination usually occurs due to the problems caused by stereotyping and prejudices. These issues have serious consequences especially in American society because they increase opportunities for violence, racism, and aggression. For these reasons, there are several researches that depict how these issues occur in the United States and how they affect social interactions.
Theories of Discrimination
Intentional and Explicit Discrimination
This theory was used by Gordon Allport to analyze prejudice and discrimination. In this case, he articulates some steps in which an individual or a group behaves negatively towards another racial group. Verbal antagonism is the first step and it is expressed through racial slurs and comments (National Research Council, 2004). Even though they are not considered serious enough to be unlawful, they depict a clear case of hostility in places such schools and workplaces. When coupled together with non-verbal expressions, they create a disadvantaged environment to the affected group. For instance, at the workplace, verbal antagonism can be used to deny employment to people from particular social groups. Secondly, avoidance is used to express discrimination too (National Research Council, 2004). In this case, people choose not to associate with members of the disadvantaged group. It creates more room for segregation especially along racial lines and it also creates hostility and limits social interactions especially, when it occurs cumulatively. Thirdly, discrimination is expressed through segregation when people actively exclude people form a particular social group to access resources and institutions such as education, housing, and employment (National Research Council, 2004). Race is a determining factor that creates unfairness, inequality, and racism.
On a similar note, physical attacks are frequently perpetrated against the segregated group. In addition to being segregated, the disadvantaged group is likely to experience explicit prejudice and hate crimes especially when they are considered as threats to economic standing and values of the mainstream group (National Research Council, 2004). Unfortunately, discrimination can be expressed through extermination; an action that leads to mass killings based on racial and ethnic characteristics. This is complex issue because it usually occurs after a long history of problems such as institutionalized discrimination, prejudiced leadership, and economic difficulties.
Subtle, unconscious, and automatic discrimination.
Notably, racial hostility and discriminatory behavior are still present in the United States. In the psychological literature, subtle prejudices and discrimination refers to unconscious beliefs that influence attitudes and behaviors towards members of a specific social group (National Research Council, 2004). For example, in indirect prejudice, members of the in group usually blame the out group for their problems. The out group is portrayed as deserving avoidance and exclusion. It can also influence support for policies that disadvantage the out group. More so, when subtle prejudice is unconscious and automatic, it creates negative stereotyping and discrimination based on factors such as race and gender (National Research Council, 2004). It remains one of the problems affecting modern workplaces and it undermines how employees and organizations function. Although it is illegal to discriminate a person based on characteristics such race and disability status, subtle discrimination limits the protection of employees. Interestingly, this remains a challenging issue to handle because sometimes it occurs unconsciously making it difficult to establish if actually discrimination has occurred.
Statistical Discrimination and Profiling
This is an interesting concept of understanding discrimination. It implies that an individual or organization uses common beliefs about people to make decisions about an individual from that group. For example, if the employer believes that blacks are criminal in nature, he can deny a black applicant employment on this basis even without investigating his or her criminal record and qualifications. Therefore, this means that statistical discrimination and profiling can create economic discrimination against the affected group. It limits their capabilities such as denying them opportunities to work as corporate leaders. Although, it is an indirect form of discrimination, it is normative and discursive because it influences the expectations and behaviors towards individuals from groups labeled as “the other”. In some cases, it is not intentional, but its consequences are discriminatory and can create disadvantages to the affected groups.
Organizational Processes.
As seen, the United States is one the countries with a long history of racial discrimination. Unfortunately, such history affects some organizational rules and can easily lead to discrimination. It creates a form of structural discrimination that leads a differential treatment or produces racial outcomes. This type of discrimination is more common in housing where racism occurs from exclusionary laws. There are overt cases of segregation where some communities are expected to live in specific neighborhoods. When such cases of discrimination become persistent, then the disadvantaged groups will experience unfairness and inequalities.
Prejudices, Stereotyping, and Discrimination in America.
These are issues that continue to have a profound effect on African-Americans. As explained by, this community still struggle with racial discrimination both personally and across social institutions (Bleich et al, 2019). They are also unfairly targeted by the police and are victims of racial slurs, and this is the major reason why blacks reports that they experience higher levels of discrimination than the whites. For instance, in healthcare, blacks report that they experience discrimination in clinical setting, and this is forcing them to avoid looking for healthcare services. It remains a considerable barrier to enabling them to access quality and timely services (Bleich et al, 2019). Even though the Affordable Care Act provides anti-discrimination provisions, there are still disparities between how blacks and whites access healthcare and racial discrimination is a contributing factor. On a further note, police brutality and violence towards the blacks is a common form of discrimination.
There are concerns that the minorities such as the blacks are subjects of police brutality and white supremacy. This was notable following the arrest of a CNN reporter live on airlive for covering the Minneapolis’ attacks (Malik, 2020). These actions sparked debates on social media because the journalist was not only arrested for doing his job, but it was a case of discrimination. Another case of racial discrimination, stereotyping, and prejudice was seen when George Floyd was killed by the police on May 25, 2020. It was a good reflection of the tensions between the police and African Americans (Hassett-Walker, 2020). It also proved that the legacy of oppressive laws against the blacks is still a major obstacle to their lives because this was not the first time a black was killed by the police. In 1992, police officers were acquitted of killing Rodney King while in 1965, Marquette Fyre experienced violence at the hands of the police apparently for refusing arrest (Hassett-Walker, 2020). Therefore, considering Floyd’s killing, it is clear that racism has deep roots in American society. The culture of the whites towards the blacks has not changed as it should, and blacks are still struggling with this issue. There is a legacy of discrimination, inequality, and oppression that continues to plague the lives of African Americas. For instance, there are cases of systematic racial profiling where black drivers are likely to be stopped and searched by the traffic police (Hassett-Walker, 2020). Therefore, this makes it easier to understand that the history of America in regards to discrimination is still felt by the minorities especially the blacks.
Social psychology and social interactions
The application of social psychology can provide insights regarding contemporary social interactions. First, it makes it easier to understand that our social situation, that is, our relationship with other people is very important. People develop social bonds with each other and this is necessary to help them achieve their goals (Stangor, 2014). In this case, we realize that other people are important in our lives and they determine what we should, how we should think, and how we should act. Secondly, it is clear that although personal characteristics matter, social situation has a strong influence on our behaviors than our personalities. Therefore, this is to say that other people significantly influence our physical and mental health (Stangor, 2014). For instance, people who feel that they have social networks they can rely on for adequate social support are likely to be happier and experience less psychological problems. On the contrary, the lack of social support leads to feelings of exclusion and rejection. They are more likely to be depressed and their ability to interact with others is seriously limited (Stangor, 2014). On this note, social psychology implies that social interactions are crucial to promote our overall wellbeing.
CONCLUSION
References
Bleich, S. N., Findling, M. G., Casey, L. S., Blendon, R. J., Benson, J. M., SteelFisher, G. K., … & Miller, C. (2019). Discrimination in the United States: experiences of black Americans. Health services research, 54, 1399-1408.
Stangor, C. (2014). Defining Social Psychology: History and Principles. Principles of Social Psychology-1st International Edition.
Hassett-Walker, C.(2020). George Floyd’s death reflects the racist roots of American policing. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/george-floyds-death-reflects-the-racist-roots-of-american-policing-139805
Malik, N. (2020). Racism in America is not the exception-it’s the norm. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jun/07/racism-america-not-exception-norm-police-brutality-inherent-virtue
National Research Council. (2004). Measuring racial discrimination. National Academies Press.