Jacquie and Lisa are part of a group at the local high school that is trying to end the cliquishness in the high school that has led to fights after school. Explain how what each of the following terms means and how it might contribute to the situation.
a. prejudice
b. in-group
c. social norm
d. scapegoating
e. equal status contact
Prejudice is having negative feelings/thoughts and
attitude to a particular group and every member part of that group. This can
lead to fights at school. For example, if a group of white students hold
prejudice feelings towards a group of black students, and this prejudice
feelings lead to discriminatory actions such as knocking down a black student’s
books on the ground, then feelings of tension and hatred can grow from both
groups which eventually can lead to fights. In-group refers to only
people that share a common identity. This can lead to fights with students at
the school because this is being very selective. For example, the jocks favor
other jock members in their group, and consider the geeks as the out-group.
Social norms are
the rules for how people should act in society. Any behavior that is outside
these norms is considered abnormal. In
terms of cliques the goths become an easy target for the popular cheerleaders.
Thus if the goth does something out of the social norms such as getting an ear
gauge, they could be made fun of or get dirty looks which can lead to
conflicts. Scapegoating is the theory that states that prejudice offers
people a way to let off their anger by blaming someone else. For example if a
student experiences failures, he/she can blame another student part of another
group. Equal status contact states
that in order to reduce prejudice, relationships between different groups of
equal status. Thus this should be applied at the school. For example in school,
relationships can form between different groups that have similar grades or
similar economic statuses. This will create less prejudice and will get other
groups involved with members of different groups.
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