Group conflicts is a common feature associated with all kind of social organization. Intergroup conflicts occurs between different groups of people who are competing for dominance. Groups are more aggressive and competitive than individual persons. This conflict is evident with the delinquent adolescence boys in the detention camp who were members of different local gangs. Competition is the main source of these conflicts and to be specific is for valuable resources and respect in a community according to the relative deprivation theory. Group conflicts are very dangerous and statistically it is estimated that over 100 million people died of these conflicts between the years 1916-1964. Intergroup conflicts are fueled by several concept such …show more content…
Since the psychological and social lives of the members of the groups are involved in these conflicts, it is best to develop strategies that will involve the group and also the individual members (Oskamp 2000). Intergroup and personal approaches are the best strategies to overcome these biases. In personal approaches one aims at challenging the social cognitive factors which have made these adolescents to be negative perceivers. There is a direct approach and an indirect approach to the underlying issue. Direct approach is based on motivation in an attempt to reduce these conflicts. “Prejudice with compunction” is a notion coined by Monteith and uses the impact of self-directed guilt to reduce intergroup bias (Devine, 2000). This approach make use of the good intentions of individuals who are less prejudiced and a lot of effort, awareness and practice is required to make it work. Another way can be by helping individuals develop an “auto-motive” way of controlling their thoughts thus suppressing their biases. Another alternative method is by large scale retraining although the results of this intervention are not substantial for a permanent change (Dovidio, 2001). Making individuals accountable for their biases and emphasizing on broader and positive ideologies are other direct personal approaches that can help reduce …show more content…
There are three main approaches in this strategy. The first approach is decategorization and it uses differentiation and categorization to abolish categorization. Bias is reduced by making interaction more out-group than in-group. Although, individual interaction yield much better results than a task focus, one cannot directly generalize individuals and group as the strategies involved in individual approaches will sever the group interaction. According to survey research, having out-group friends reduces bias and thus this supports this strategy. Another approach is recategorization which involves alteration of the existing categories (us and them) and replace them with new superordinate categories (us). Maintaining the salience of category distinctions is another approach and it is based on two main aspects which are: (a) maintaining the salience of group boundaries when in contact so as to encourage generalization across members of the target out-group; (b) mutual intergroup differentiation which will be as a result of difference in expertise and experience of the
The hidden bias test by Project Implicit was interesting method of determining hidden biases. A hidden bias is, “Biases thought to be absent or extinguished remain as "mental residue" in most of us.”(Teaching Tolerance, 2014). Studies have shown a link between biases and behavior and biases can be revealed through an individual’s actions. If biases are revealed through actions then they must be learned. Teaching Tolerance indicates, “Bias is perpetuated by conformity with in-group attitudes and socialization by the culture at large.” (Teaching Tolerance, 2014). This perspective supports the belief which biases are learned and never forgotten and reestablished through behavior. My perception of biases is they are formed through experiences not group conformity. Culture is important influence in forming biases, yet biases can change. According to Teaching Tolerance, even if a bias still changes it lingers in the unconscious. An interesting perspective, biases continue to stay with each of us even if we think it is hidden.
I HAVE A STRONG belief that PREJUDICE also HAPPENS within a group. If you belong to a social group and there is OTHER group who are OPPOSE TO PREVIOUS GROUP, for example 'charvas ' and 'Goths ' there is usually hostility between the THIS GROUPS, because they HAVE DIFFERENT DRESS CODE and enjoy DIFFERENT HOBBIES. However, if these OPPOSITE groups HAVE NO OPTION TO COORPORATE together in a CERTAIN POSITION that they had NO OTHER CHOICE, the BOUNDARY 'drawn ' between them LIKE 38TH PARALLEL would BE DESTORYED and BE ABLE get along TOGETHER. However, as discussES in a VARITIES of EXPERIMENT, Aronson et. al. who OPERATED with the jigsaw SERVEY technique, it has CERTIFIED that changes in prejudGEMENTAL arising from the PERFORMING situation may not generalize to other INCIDENTS and until prejudice is DEDUCED in society, for example through edification which will practice these methods, people will be further likely to stay within their private group and remain to be unreceptive to groups that are diverse from
Walmart can be studied using structure functional theory and social conflict theories. Social functional theory is the relationships among parts of society and how these parts are functional(have beneficial consequences) or dysfunctional (have negative consequences. Most Americans today love to shop at Walmart because they continue to give consumers the best prices on over 120,000 products and are one stop shopping.
“We all fight on two fronts, the one facing the enemy, the other facing what we do to the enemy” (Boyden 199).
Sherif argued that intergroup conflict occurs when two groups are in competition for limited resources. This theory is supported by evidence from a famous study investigating group conflict: The Robbers Cave (Sherif, 1954, 1958, 1961). Sherif (1954) conducted an experiment with young boys in a summer camp. The participants were 24 schoolboys, came from the similar,
“The psychological approach to prejudice is to examine individual behavior.” (pg. 505) the author reveals the argument he is trying to make through the article by using the psychology of prejudices to research individual behavior and then explains how to reach this conclusion. “We can understand more about prejudice among individuals by focusing on four areas of study…” (pg. 505) the author organizes the article in this fashion to first reveal the point the author wants to express to the reader then illustrate step by step how he will persuade the reader into believing the author. Throughout the article the author separates his argument into four sections the levels of prejudice, self-justification, personality, and frustration. Each category helps the author dive the reader in depth of how the psychology of prejudices works. The author then continues onto his article of describing and defining each area of study “cognitive level of prejudice encompasses a person’s beliefs and of a group as threatening or non-threatening etc., emotional level of prejudice encompasses the feeling that a minority group arouses in an individual…action-orientation level of prejudice is the positive or negative predisposition to engage in discriminatory behavior.” (pg.
Conflict theory is an imperative hypothetical custom inside the field of human science. It attests that specific sections of society benefit lopsidedly from set up social and financial plans, which drives them to utilize the state 's coercive constrain in keeping up that disparity. Despite the fact that this origination of force and disservice was initially an absolutely financial viewpoint, racial and ethnic personalities have turned into a necessary piece of conflict theory speculations as they are characterized and examined today.
Did you know that in 2014, shoplifting and worker’s theft cost the retail industry a loss of thirty-two billion dollars (Wahba, 2015)? According Wahba “a common misperception about shoplifting is that retailers can ‘afford’ the loss of a candy bar or a pair of jeans” (2015). This type of reasoning certainly does make more sense when explained through the context of a criminological theory. For example according to the Rational Choice theory individuals weigh the costs and benefits associated with a criminal and or deviant act and then make a conscious choice. Other criminological theories explain criminal and deviant behavior using a biological, psychological, social, conflict, or multifactor component. Taking that into consideration in this
Prejudice is a topic of interest to social psychologists and society as a whole. Prejudice can be defined as ‘an attitude that predisposes a person to think, feel, perceive and act in a favourable or unfavourable way towards a group or its individual members’ (Secord and Backman, 1974, p). Prejudice is often the cause of negative behaviour such as bullying and aggression. Discrimination such as; racism, ageism, sexism, nationalism, classism may occur as a result. Jane Elliot’s study: A Class Divided (1968) attempts to highlight prejudicial behaviour in children. Elliot divided her class into groups of eye colour. She told the children that blue eye colour defined people to be more intelligent and superior to those with brown eyes. Results showed that the divide caused pupils to develop characteristic responses of discrimination. Additionally, it showed the subconscious affect of discrimination by both the oppressor and the oppressed. (Video, 1968)
Prejudices shape our perceptions of various people and influence our attitudes and actions toward particular groups and prejudicial attitudes that are negative often lead to hostile relations between domi...
The basis for this concept, begins with the causes of prejudice. While there are many causes that relate to prejudice, the context ...
By 2050, the United States will consist of about 53% White, 25% Hispanic, 14% Black, 8% Asian/Pacific Islander, and 1% American Indian. Due to this diversity, it is no doubt that the school system will also change (D’Angelo and Dixey, 2001, p. 83). Thus, the more diverse these classrooms are becoming, the more liable prejudice is to occur. According to Aboud (1998), prejudice is defined as “…a unified, stable, and consistent tendency to respond in a negative way towards members of a particular ethnic group” that is regarded inferior (D’Angelo and Dixey, 2001, p. 83). Prejudice is a socially learned behavior, and as “children, [we] gain knowledge of race and prejudice at an early age from [our] associations with others” (D’Angelo and Dixey, 2001, p. 83-4). Hence, there are only a few solutions to possibly remove prejudice from within the classroom. One possible solution is to have students learn about past cases of prejudice and the effects it has had on our world (Kleg, 1993, p...
In 1954, social psychologist Gordon Allport published a book regarded as the point of divergence for modern researchers into the nature of prejudice, and it highlighted methods for mitigating prejudice in the society. Allport delineates the inclusive origins of intergroup discrimination and also series of recommendations to eliminate prejudice. Undoubtedly, for the past fifty years, Allport theories have made the most practical attempt to promote intergroup relationship. Allport defined prejudice as a social aversion based on a faulty and obstinate generalization of an individual or a group of people grounded on their social category or group membership (Allport, 1954). According to Allport (1954), prejudice and stereotyping emerged partly due to normal human thinking
In conclusion, social identity theory suggests that intergroup members will discriminate the out-group to increase their own self-image. There are four main concepts in the theory and they are supported by studies such as Cialdini et al. and Tajfel. The theory has both strengths such as it is supported by large amount of research and it demonstrates the roles of social categorization in intergroup behaviours but also limitations such as aim of the theory to favour situational factors rather than dispositional factors is not supported by evidence and that self-esteem hypothesis is not longer central to social identity theory. Therefore, social identity theory can be used to explain how we from our individual and group identities in terms of “in” and “out” groups. It can also be used to explain why prejudice exists in all human societies.
Several experiments and researches have been conducted that have focused on how people behave in groups. The findings have revealed that groups affect peoples’ attitudes, behavior and perceptions. Groups are essential for personal life, as well as in work life.