Question

1.. Discuss the six approaches to prejudice. Please include in your answer the Historical, Sociocultural, Situational, Psychodynamic, Phenomenological, and the Earned Reputation emphases.

2. How does urban insecurity play a part in prejudice? What is the frustration theory? Compare these two.

Answer 1

Prejudice refers to a set of negative attitudes about other individuals or groups based merely on their membership to a particular group such as gender, race, class, nationality, etc. social psychologists have approached and theorised about the reason for the formation of prejudices based on different approaches. Some of these are discussed below:

1. Historical approach: according to this view, prejudice arise due to past negative experiences and conflicts with members of a particular group. Thus for instance, the first generation Italian and Irish immigrants to the United States were regarded as lesser class citizens because they held menial economic positions, they occupied the fringes or the ghettos in the East coast which became the hotbed for criminal activities. This led to the development of negative attitude towards the second generation Irish and Italian youth who were considered as prospective criminals by the mainstream American population.

2. Socio-cultural Approach: according to the proponent of this approach, Gordon Allport, prejudice is strengthened if a social contract exists between the two groups which produces competition for the limited resources and the eme era lesser opportunities for interaction. This leads to development of strong positive attitude towards one’s own group or the ingroup bias and hostile and negative stereotypes towards the outgroup called outgroup bias. However, when contact between the two groups is increased such as by physical proximity, then thy have the opportunity to know the other and are less likely to develop prejudices.

3.Situational approach to prejudice: according to Sherif and Tajfel, people easily fall into in-group and out-group biases when certain enviornmental circumstances are present. Thus, competition and a feeling of relative deprivation over jobs, land resources, status, power, etc can trigger prejudice and discrimination. Other factors such as misleading speeches and actions of charismatic leaders can promote prejudice. For instance, The rise of Adolf Hitler to fame saw a stark increase in anti-Semitic sentiments in the 1930s in Germany. According to Bandura, charismatic leaders have power and they act a strong role models thereby encouraging their followers to imitate his/her own attitudes.

4. The psychodynamic view of prejudice: according to the proponents of this approach, prejudice is about the whole personality or disposition of an individual. Marxist psychoanalysts like Adorno defined an authoritarian personality type which is more prone to developing prejudices about others. Such individuals are seen as rigid conformists to the group norms,conservative and have a strong sense and unrelenting sense of morality due to their experience with a harsh upbringing. As a result, they are unaccepting of different viewpoints and lifestyles and become more critical of other groups which may directly or indirectly appear to challenge their own rigid set of beliefs. Moreover, some psychoanalysts read prejudices as a work of scapegoating or the unconscious defense of displacement of one’s feeling of aggression onto another group.

5. The phenomenological theory: according to the phenomenological view, prejudices can be explained in light of an individual’s experience of relative or perceived deprivation. A unique aspect of this approach is that instead of theorising about prejudices from the perspective of the majority or the dominant group, this view consolidates an understanding of the experiences of the victims of prejudice and how do they experience their membership to a particular sex, class, race, religion or ethnicity which becomes the subject of target for the others.

6. theEarned reputation theory of prejudice: According to its proponent Zardari, certain characteristics which may be objectionable to the beliefs and practices of a particular group become grounds for formulating a bad reputation of the other group. This results in prejudicial aggression and ostracising of the membership of the out-group. For instance, the youth from the ‘Bronx’ are more often seen as delinquents and crime suspects y the mainstream upper middle class Americans because their neighbourhoods and social status are negatively judged by the mainstream society.

( there is not enough space or time to deal with all the questions simultaneously here. Please post the second question separately)