Chapter One Diversity in the United States: Questions and Concepts © Pine Forge Press, an imprint of Sage Publications, 2010.

Chapter One Diversity in the United States: Questions and

Concepts

© Pine Forge Press, an imprint of Sage Publications, 2010

A Land of Immigrants

Over the past three decades, the number of immigrants arriving in the U.S. has more than tripled, changing the racial and ethnic makeup of U.S. society


What is a minority group? The members of the group experience a pattern of

disadvantage or inequality.

The members of the group share a visible trait or characteristic that differentiates them from other groups.

The minority group is a self-conscious social unit.

Membership in the group is usually determined at birth.

Members tend to marry within the group.


Inequality Most important defining characteristic of minority

groups.

Variable patterns of inequality-exploitation, slavery, genocide

Minority, or subordinate groups, have less of what society values

Pattern is a result of actions by the core or dominant group


Inequality Stratification, or the unequal distribution of

valued goods and services, is a basic feature of society.

Societies are divided into horizontal layers (or strata), often called social classes, which differ from one another by the amount of resources they command.

Minority group status affects access to property, prestige, and power


Theoretical Perspectives

C la ss C o n flic t ine v ita b le

T h e p ro le ta ria t o r th e w o rk in g c la ss

B o rg eo is ie o r th e ru lin g c la ss

R e la tion sh ip to them e an s o f p rod u ction

K a rl M a rx

P o w er

P re s tige

E co n om ic P o s it ion

M a x W e b er

S u bs is ten ce te ch n o lo gy

L e ve l o f d eve lo p m e nt o f so cie ty

G e rha rd Le n ski

T h eo rie s o f In e qu a lity


Minority Group Status and Stratification

Minority group status affects access to wealth and income, prestige, and power.

Although social classes and minority groups are correlated, they are separate social realities.

Struggles over property, wealth, prestige, and power lie at the heart of every dominant-minority relationship.


Visible Distinguishing Traits

Visible traits or characteristics that set members of the group apart and that the dominant group holds in low esteem.

Racial minority groups differentiated by physical characteristics.

Ethnic minority groups differentiated by cultural characteristics.

Categories can overlap.

Creations of historical and social processes not biological processes.


Race

Even though race is not regarded as an important biological characteristic, it is still an important social concept. It continues to be seen as a significant way of differentiating among people.



Gender Like race, gender has both a biological and a social

component and can be a highly visible and convenient way of judging and sorting people.

Rather than discussing women as a separate group, we need to focus on the divergent experiences of men and women within each minority group.

This approach permits us to analyze the ways in which race, ethnicity, gender, and class combine, overlap, and crosscut each other to form a “matrix of domination” (Hill-Collins, 1991, pp. 225-227).



Key Concepts in Dominant-Minority Relations


Prejudice The tendency to think (cognitive) about other

groups in a particular manner and to attach usually negative emotions (affective) to other groups.

Stereotypes are generalizations that are thought to apply to all members of the group.

Generally the two dimensions of prejudice are highly correlated but distinct and separate and can vary independently.


Causes of Prejudice

Theories that focus on personality needs as a cause of prejudice

Theories that view prejudice as primarily a result of being raised in a racist society and interacting in many social situations in which discrimination is approved

Theories that view prejudice as arising out of intergroup conflict


Competition Between Groups and the Origins of Prejudice

The one common factor that seems to account for the origin of all prejudices is competition between groups

Typically, prejudice is more a result of the competition than a cause

Muzafer Sherif’s experiment at Robber’s Cave © Pine Forge Press, an imprint of Sage Publications, 2010

Limitations:

– Individuals who have no material stake in minority group subordination can still be extremely prejudiced.

– The sources of prejudice can be found in culture, socialization, family structure, and personality development as well as in politics and economics.

– Prejudice can have important psychological and social functions independent of group power relationships.


Culture, Socialization, and the Persistence of Prejudice

Prejudice originates in group competition of some sort but often outlives the conditions of its creation

Gunnar Myrdal proposed the idea that prejudice is perpetuated through time by a self-fulfilling prophecy or a vicious cycle


The Vicious Cycle


The idea that prejudice is learned during socialization is reinforced by studies of the development of prejudice in children.

Children acquire prejudice even when parents and other caregivers do not teach it overtly.


Research using social distance scales demonstrates that prejudice exists apart from individuals and that it is passed from generation to generation.

The importance of the social situation in which attitudes are expressed and behavior occurs is also important as what people think and what they do is not always the same.


Limitations:

– No two people have the same socialization experiences or develop exactly the same prejudices.

– Socialization is not a passive process; we are not neutral recipients of a culture that is simply forced down our throats.

– We also learn egalitarian norms and values as we are socialized.


The Sociology of Individual Prejudice

Prejudice has its origins in intergroup competition and is more the result of competition rather than the cause.

Prejudice is used to justify and rationalize societal inequality that becomes part of a cultural heritage.


Discrimination

Refers to behavior and may be defined as the unequal treatment of a person or persons based on group membership

Discrimination and prejudice do not necessarily occur together


Ideological Racism A belief system or a set of ideas that assert that a particular group is

inferior and used to legitimize or rationalize the inferior status of the group.

Incorporated into the culture of society and can be passed on from generation to generation.

Do not necessarily need prejudice to have ideological racism--socialization processes.

The term ideological sexism, analogous to ideological racism but focused on sexual differences, will be used when we analyze patterns of inequality between males and females.


Institutionalized Discrimination

Patterns of unequal treatment based on group membership and built into the institutions and daily operations of society.

Can be obvious and overt, but usually operate in more hidden and unintended ways.


Individual level prejudice and discrimination, and group level racism and institutional discrimination reinforce each other.

These relationships are socially negotiated and sustain the respective positions of dominant and minority groups in the stratification system.


Chapter One Diversity in the United States: Questions and Concepts © Pine Forge Press, an imprint of Sage Publications, 2010.

Documents

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