PREJUDICE

In its original usage, the word '''prejudice''' referred to a '''prejudgmental reacial statement of ill doing''', or a radical '''evaluation''' or '''decision''' made before the facts of a case could be properly determined and weighed.^[1] This usage was subsequently broadened to include '''any unreasonable attitude that is unusually resistant to rational influence'''.^[2]
For the purposes of this article, which is examining prejudice within a single, overarching, theoretical framework, it is important to define the word as follows: '''Interpersonal hostility that is directed against individuals based on their membership in a minority group'
When this definition is applied, prejudice generally refers to existing biases toward the members of such groups, often based on social stereotypes; and at its most extreme, results in groups being denied life,^[3] liberty,^[4] and the pursuit of happiness^[5][6]'' or, conversely, unfairly showing unwarranted favour towards others^[7]''.

Contents

Forms of prejudice

Reasons for prejudice

Examples of prejudice in fiction

Sociology

Common misconceptions

See also

References

Forms of prejudice

John E. Farley classified prejudice into three categories.^[8] 'Cognitive Prejudice' refers to what people believe is true. An example of cognitive prejudice might be found, for example, adherence to a particular metaphysical or methodological philosophy to the exclusion of other philosophies that may offer a more complete theoretical explanation. 'Affective Prejudice' refers to what people like and dislike. An example of affective prejudice might be found, for example, in attitudes toward members of particular classes such as race, ethnicity, national origin, or creed. 'Co native Prejudice' refers to how people are inclined to behave. Co native prejudice is regarded as an attitude because people don't actually act on their feelings. An example of co native prejudice might be found in expressions of what one would do if, hypothetically, the opportunity presented itself. These three types of prejudice are correlated, but all need not be present in a particular individual. Someone, for example, might believe a particular group possesses low levels of intelligence, but harbour no ill feelings toward that group. On the other hand, one might not like a group because of intense competition for jobs, but still recognize no inherent differences between groups.
'Discrimination' is a behaviour (an action), particularly with reference to unequal treatment of people because they are members of a particular group. Farley also classified discrimination into three categories.^[9] 'Personal / Individual Discrimination' is directed toward a specific individual and refers to any act that leads to unequal treatment because of the individual's real or perceived group membership. 'Legal Discrimination' refers to "unequal treatment, on the grounds of group membership, that is upheld by law."^[10] [Apartheid] is an example of legal discrimination, as are also various post-Civil War laws in the southern United States that legally disadvantaged negros with respect to property rights, employment rights and the exercise of constitutional rights. 'Institutional Discrimination' refers to unequal treatment that is entrenched in basic social institutions resulting in advantaging one group over another. The Indian [caste system] is an historical example of institutional discrimination. As with prejudice generally, these three types of discrimination are correlated and may be found to varying degrees in individuals and society at large.
Many forms of discrimination based upon prejudice are outwardly unacceptable in most societies.

Reasons for prejudice

Fallacious extension of one's negative past experiences to the general case can be harmful; it can be termed bias, or more colloquially, "lumping". If a person has developed the concept that members of one group have certain characteristics because of a sour past acquaintance with a member of that group, she may presume that all members of the group have such characteristics. ''(See ''guilt by association''.)'' This is typical of all prejudice: racism, linguicism, ageism, heterosexism, prejudice based on differing political stances, and classism or elitism based on one's socioeconomic status. There are prejudices towards those with disabilities, because a "handicapped" or disabled person may appear different or communicate differently from everyone else, or might be unable to live the way an "abled" person can. And prejudices against people from other countries, regions and occupations as well are expressed by jokes or statements.
In other cases, it may be a matter of early education: children taught that certain attitudes are the "correct" ones may form opinions without weighing the evidence on both sides of a given question with no malice intended on the child's part. An adult might even be shocked to hear racial slurs or comments and their own opinions on various groups echoed back at them from their children. In the US, Australia and Europe in particular, it's considered taboo by some people for persons to publicly express their prejudices against another race or group of people; this view has been bolstered by a degree of legal framework and policy within many large organisations. However such taboos do not exist endemically outside the public sphere, and numerous monocultures regard alleged slurs as normal everyday language. This mismatch between an establishment view and a folk view of taboos related to "prejudice" is connected to a frequently reported perception of "political correctness" restricting the organic expression of views within society, and concomitant backlash against such restriction of free speech.

Examples of prejudice in fiction

In Jane Austen's novel ''Pride and Prejudice'', the heroine forms a strong opinion of a man's character before she hears his side of the story. The balance of the facts, when finally made known to her, challenges and ultimately overturns this prejudice. Prejudice is also a theme in To Kill a Mockingbird, in which a man is wrongly tried and convicted because of his race. And the 1997 science-fiction movie ''Gattaca'' about a future where genetically-enhanced people are the majority, while a non-genetically enhanced minority are socially and economically discriminated and marginalized for their "imperfections".

Sociology

★ Sociologists have termed prejudice an adaptive behaviour. Biased views might be considered necessary at times for human survival: we don't always have time to form a legitimate view about a potential foe before adopting a defensive stance that could save our lives. Conversely, prejudice is non-adaptive when it interferes with survival or well-being.

Common misconceptions

At times the terms prejudice and stereotype are confusing:

★ Prejudices are abstract-general preconceptions or abstract-general attitudes towards any type of situation object or person.

★ Stereotypes are generalizations of existing characteristics. These reduce complexity.

See also

★ Adultism

★ Allport's scale

★ Allophilia

★ Civil Rights

★ Discrimination

★ Heterosexism

★ Intercultural competence

★ Intolerance

★ Judging

★ Labelling

★ Misanthropology

★ Multi-culturalism and diversity

★ Police Brutality

★ political correctness

★ Racism

★ Sexism

★ The Sneetches and Other Stories by Dr. Seuss, an allegory of racism (some readers see parallels to anti-Semitism)

★ Tolerance

References

★ Farley, John E., ''Majority - Minority Relations (4th Ed.)'', Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, ISBN 0-131-44412-3

★ Jack Levin and William Levin, ''The Functions Of Discrimination and Prejudice'' (2nd Ed.), Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc., ISBN 0-060-43964-5

★ Robertson, Ian, ''Society: A Brief Introduction'', New York: Worth Publishing, 1989, ISBN 0-879-01415-6
1. Levin and Levin, p. 65.
2. Rosnow, Ralph L.; ''Poultry and Prejudice.'' Psychology Today, (March, 1972): p. 53.
3. Lynching
4. Segregation
5. Security
6. ''(see ''persecution'')
7. ''(see ''bias'')
8. Farley, pp. 18-19
9. Farley, p. 16
10. Robertson, p. 204