Chapter 10

Question 1

What is a minority

Answer 1

¬ Any definable category of people who are socially disadvantagd.

Question 2

Two components of Membership in a minority group

Answer 2

o The groups lacks social power
o Not the size of the group, raher its lack of power
o Apartheid-from the Afrikaans word “apartness”
o With the Apartheid, the numerically inferior white population dominated the numberically superior blacks
o Minorities often experience prejudice and discrimination
o Stigmitized based on perceive attributes
o Develop a strong sense of in-group solidarity
o Race is often considered to be the key differentiating feature of a given minority group

Question 3

How are minorities distinct from the majority

Answer 3

¬ Majority uses dominance to control the social system
¬ Generally considered to be white males with European descent
¬ Race is often considered the key differentiating feature of a minority group

Question 4

Defining characteristics of minority groups

Answer 4

Minority groups are defined by various cultural and physical characteristics.

The more obvious the defining characteristics is, the more severe the stigma or social labels that are assigned to minority groups

Question 5

Myth of Race

Answer 5

¬ Historically, a race was a group of people who were physically and genetically distinguished from other groups.

Question 6

Race and genetics

Answer 6

¬ Genetic differences do not determine significant behavioural or substantive biological difference
¬ Such concepts as bi-racial, multi-racial, and racially hybrid further challenges the historical legacy of purity

Question 7

Define social construction

Answer 7

the assignment of people to racial categories is a social construction. Social scientist today asserts that what most people call race is little more than a historical legacy of western colonialism and ethnocentrism

Question 8

What kind of category is race

Answer 8

Race is real as a social cateogory, and thus affects the lives of all people, whether through the privileges that whiteness carries or the discrimination that minorities face regularly

Question 9

Thomas Theorem

Answer 9

what people believe to be real is real in its consequences. Since members of a minority group are perceived different, over time they might feel different and being to assume the attributes that others credit them with are real (self-fulfilling prophecy)

Question 10

Racialization

Answer 10

Describes the process of attributing complex characteristics to racial categories

Question 11

internalized racism

Answer 11

Members of a racial group assume the attributes associated with the racial classification and internalize them as part of their identities

Question 12

What does internalized racism lead to

Answer 12

leads to identity confusion whereby people are torn between wanting to belong on one hand and wanting to embrace their differences from the majority on the other.

Question 13

Why do sociologists prefer not to use the term race

Answer 13

1. It is socially constructed
2. Its lacks evidence that meaningful genetic differences exist between groups
3. The term has colonial and ethnocentric biases

Question 14

Why should race be replaced with “minority group” or “racialized population”

Answer 14

To accentuate the importance of a group’s socially constructed status, lack of social power, and de-emphasize biological differences as existing between groups

Question 15

Ethnicity

Answer 15

Multidimensional concept which includes one’s majority or minority status, ancestry, language, and often religious affiliation

Question 16

Ethnic group

Answer 16

Collection of people who identify with each other and share a common culture, art forms, language, music, traditions, and beliefs. Ethnicity is closely linked to migration

Question 17

How does race differ from ethnicity

Answer 17

While race is fixed at conception, one’s ethnicity is largely a function of voluntary group membership and identity (as achieved status)

Question 18

Prejudice

Answer 18

Negative assessment of what a person or group is like before you actually meet them. It is not based on facts.

Question 19

Ecological fallacy

Answer 19

Drawing conclusions about individuals based on generalized perceptions about an entire group

Question 20

Exception fallacy

Answer 20

Drawing conclusions about an entire group based on observations of individuals. Usually aren’t in the position to impose their views due to lack of power

Question 21

Stereotype

Answer 21

Sweeping generalization about a category of people that are applied to all members of that category

Question 22

Racism

Answer 22

An ideology that maintains that one race is inherently superior to another
Sociologists view racism as an ideology that justifies treating people differently because of their racial category

Question 23

Democratic racism

Answer 23

A system that advocates equality but in fact perpetuates minority differentiation and oppression. Without real change, the dominant group will simply continue to maintain positions of privilege

Question 24

Discrimination

Answer 24

Occurs when a person or group either denies or grants advantages to members of a particular group.

Question 25

Discrimination can be classified as

Answer 25

Individual, direct institutional, or indirect institutional

Question 26

Individual discrimination

Answer 26

Individuals advantage or disadvantage others because of their group membership. Example refusing to hire a sociology tutor because he/she is African and not Canadian.

Question 27

Direct Institutional Discrimination

Answer 27

Occurs when an institution employs policies or practices that are discriminatory against a person or group in that they deny that person or group a right or freedom.

Question 28

Indirect institutional discrimination

Answer 28

Occurs when an action results in individuals being treated differently based on an unlawful criterion (such as physical disability, age, gender, religion) but lacks the intent of being discriminatory.

Question 29

Robert K. Merton

Answer 29

came up with a typology for prejudice and discrimination. One could be prejudice, but does not discriminate. One is a non-prejudice person, but they discriminate.

Question 30

Scapegoat Theory (Dollard et al)

Answer 30

¬ Prejudice and discrimination originate in the frustrations of people who want to blame someone else for their problems ¬ When there is tension and social problems seem uncommentable people find innocent, weak, and distinctive groups to blame and victimize

Question 31

Authoritarian Personality theory key statements to let you know if you have an authoritarian personality trait

Answer 31

- Asserts that extreme prejudice is a personality trait linked to people who believe strongly in following cultural norms, traditions, and values. - People can be divided into two distinct classes; the weak and the strong - Some people are born with the urge to jump from heights - No weakness or difficulty can hold us back if we have enough will power - Most of our social problems would be solved if we could somehow get rid of immoral, crooked, or feeble minded people

Question 32

Socio-Cultural Theories

Answer 32

Some prejudice is healthy and part of all cultures The belief in the benefit of one’s own culture over other’s is healthy since it unifies the group. Culture of prejudice asserts that prejudice is not as a result of personality trait that is being argued by the Frankfurt school, but is part of a person's culture fabric

Question 33

Emory Bogardus- Social Distance scale

Answer 33

A scale to investigate how people felt towards members of numerous ethnic groups in the United States. The scale is based on a person’s willingness to participate in social situations with different people. Bogardus found that people were able to rank ethnic groups based on how close or distant they felt to them

Question 34

Functionalist theory

Answer 34

¬ Racist ideologies allow the dominant groups to benefit from the system that they control while minority groups face restricted opportunities and exclusion from the opportunities available

Question 35

Conflict theory

Answer 35

Prejudice and discrimination are logical outcomes of competition (struggle for scarce resources)

Question 36

Different ways of explaining prejudice and discrimination

Answer 36

Dual labour market theory: argues that modern societies have two distinct labour markets: primary and secondary.

Question 37

Primary labour market

Answer 37

¬ Have secure job positions that pay good salaries (not hourly wages) ¬ Offer attractive fringe benefits such as vacations and bonuses -Potential upward mobility in organization

Question 38

Secondary Labour market

Answer 38

¬ Often insured and temporary ¬ Pay workers hourly wages ¬ Provide only legally required benefits ¬ Rarely offers any training to advance a workers position. ¬ Minority groups are disproportionately found in the secondary labour market ¬ Members of the dominant group defend their advantage position by keeping visible minorities out of their unions and oppose equal rights initiatives.

Question 39

Marxist exploitation theory

Answer 39

``` ¬ Views the powerful economic elite, rather than the entire dominant group as benefiting from discrimination ¬ Ruling class deliberately promotes prejudice and discrimination in order to divide workers so that they cannot present the rich with a united front of opposition ¬ Minority taught to see each other instead of the ruling class as the enemy hence workers are unable to marshal a united front to demand fair treatment and better wages ¬ Due to the lack of coordinate opposition the elite continue to oppress workers and maintain their control over society. ```

Question 40

Critical race theory

Answer 40

1) Race remains a key factor of prejudice discrimination and inequality in modern society 2) Status in modern society is largely based on property rights 3) The intersection of race and property creates an analytical tool for understanding social inequality.

Question 41

Symbolic interactionism

Answer 41

``` ¬ Attitudes and perceptions are not innate, rather learned as a required component of culture or an expression of class conflict ¬ Selective perception is the process whereby people see only those things that reinforce their preconceived perceptions (focuses on the negatives) ```

Question 42

Multiracial feminist theory

Answer 42

¬ Investigates race, class, and gender and gives voice to women of colour who may feel alienated from traditional white feminism ¬ Domination and oppression are the outcome of an entire system of inequality that diminishes both women and men

Question 43

Post-colonial theory

Answer 43

¬ Examine the ways in which the colonial past has shaped the social, political, and economic experience of a colonized country

Question 44

Genocide occurs under the following conditions

Answer 44

- The dominant group is much larger than the minority group - The minority group is of little or no economic values to the dominant group - The dominant group needs a scape goat to blame for economic setbacks

Question 45

Segregation

Answer 45

Formal physical or social separation of dominant and minority groups. This often allows the dominant group to benefit from the exploited labour of minority groups. This often allows the dominant group to benefit from the exploited labour of minority groups.

Question 46

Separatism

Answer 46

- Voluntary and structural cultural isolation by minority groups from the dominant group - While segregation is imposed by the majority group to separate it from the minority groups, separatism is pursued by minority groups as a means of preserving their cultural integrity.