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

Approaches to studying prejudice:

According to historical approach, historical experiences and memories are responsible for prejudice.   Many of the ethnic conflicts are related to memories of earlier atrocities or unjust treatment of one group by another. These are passed on from parents and ethnic community to children, who pass such views on to their children.  

The sociocultural approach to prejudice refers to the division of society into elites and non-elites or social classes. Here the members of an elite or dominant social class exercise power over members of non-elites or subordinate social classes.  

The Situational prejudice says that a person's actions are due to the situation that they are in. For example, someone is traveling in a train and gets a middle birth then that person may feel prejudices against the person who has the lower birth and may not talk to the person politely throughout the journey.

The earned reputation theory attempts to explain prejudices by emphasizing the influence of a group in a society. In other words, the members of a group having a bad reputation are victimized by other groups. For example, the Jews were made the victim of aggression by other groups as well.

2. Whenever there is competition for resources like land, jobs or housing it is going to create insecurity. This is happening in an urban setting. An immigrant group is seen with prejudice especially in an economic downturn as opposed to an economic downturn.Same is true for frustration theory. If a person is prevented from achieving one's goal it leads to a feeling of stress that creates frustration and maybe aggression.