Racism, Sexism and Prejudice - Essay Example

Psychology Racism, Sexism and Prejudice It is not difficult to come up with a definition for racism, sexism or prejudice as these are all attitudes one comes across in everyday life. To me, racism is defined as an attitude of strong feeling for another group of people who are identified by individual or grouped characteristics based upon their general and most identifiable genetic origins. This attitude is not always negative, such as in the idea that all Asian children are intelligent, but it is always limited and discounts any possibility of individuals of that genetic type breaking out of the prescribed role. An Asian child who is not particularly intelligent may be unable to pursue other talents because of this set role that has been ascribed to his race. Sexism is very similar to racism, differing only in that it applies to individuals based upon the gender group to which they belong and typically has only a negative connotation. However, like racism, I don’t feel it applies to only one gender or the other. There are plenty of men in the world who view women as belonging to one of only three types: the sex symbol, the shrew and the average. Likewise, there are several women who view men as belonging to only three types: the hunk, the wimp, and the average. Prejudice occurs when one allows these belief systems to be the guide in relating to others that belong to one of these groups. Instead of getting to know an individual on an individual basis, prejudice is when we assume we know everything there is to know about the person in front of us before we come within speaking distance. A Class Divided Although the video “A Class Divided” portrayed a singularly shocking event for its time period, my biggest shock was in the idea that Jane Elliot did not discuss her experiment with her superiors, fellow teachers, parents or students prior to that day. I have seen classrooms where similar projects are conducted, but the students that take part in the exercise are informed that it is an exercise beforehand, the determining factors that separate them are not personally linked to them in any way (they are things like a randomly selected colored scrap of paper or type of candy selected from a bowl) and they usually have to have some sort of permission slip signed from their parents before they are allowed to participate. Even with all these precautions, I have never seen the experiment done with an age group that was less than high school age. Despite the question regarding the way in which Jane Elliot presented her experiment, I do think there were some beneficial things that arose from it. Many of the children said that they gained a new perspective on what it was like to be judged as unworthy or unintelligent based on something they had been born with and had absolutely no control over, especially as these had not necessarily been identifying factors before. There were smart children who felt they were stupid simply because their eye color was incorrect for the day. The experiment also drew such national attention that it forced many adults to think about how they would react had they been placed in a similar situation and brought the issue into public debate. Although I think I might have been slightly traumatized as a child to think that because my eyes were brown, I was not as intelligent as the other kids in class whose eyes were blue (especially since my brother’s eyes are blue and I know I’m smarter than he is), I think the only lasting effect I would have had would be a new appreciation for getting to know the individual in front of me rather than basing my opinion and judgment upon a preconceived idea of who that person is based on what I’ve been told about their culture, ethnicity, etc. Stanford Prison Experiment The Stanford Prison experiment was much more shocking to me than the Jane Elliot video. It is disturbing to think that people can become so bestial based completely on what is expected of them in their various roles within a given society and regardless of the principles and moralities they hold outside of this setting. Although all of the men selected to participate in the experiment were normal, middle-class people of roughly the same experience level, social class and morality base, the way in which they differed by the end of the experiment was tremendous. The prisoners’ action to revolt did not seem unduly out of line, especially given the context of when the experiment was taking place, since there had been a lot of real-life prison incidences in the news. However, the increasingly abusive behavior of the guards in dishing out punishments and then in humiliating the prisoners just because they were in a position that allowed them to or because they were ‘playing a role’ was a surprise. The idea that they were doing all those horrible things because they were conforming to the part they were playing was amazing to me. I kept wondering how come no one was standing up and pointing out how crazy this was that people were being treated in such a brutal fashion. When the experiment was halted early because one researcher finally did come in and point out the madness, the other researchers ridiculed her to the point where she began to doubt even her own reaction. To me, this speaks very eloquently about the power of the human mind to not only coerce others into doing what they want as in the case of the researchers telling the guards to behave like real prison guards, but also in the capacity of individuals to completely subdue their ‘normal’ personalities in order to meet with an expected or perceived societal norm, regardless of how that might disagree with their own ethical and moralistic code. Adolescence Adolescence typically refers to that time in a person’s life when they are transitioning from the life of a child to the life of an adult. This includes all the physiological changes that occur in the person’s body as they mature into adulthood as well as the changes in thinking that must accompany those changes if one is to become a responsible adult. Adolescence differs depending on whether one is male or female, with females typically maturing much earlier than males. For girls, adolescence usually begins with the beginning of breast development when they are between eight and eleven years old. Breast development usually occurs as the level of estrogen in the girl’s bloodstream increases as a result of hormones. This stage is followed, with continued hormone involvement, by the development of pubic hair between nine and eleven years old and a period of rapid growth in the body between the ages of ten and twelve years old. During the growth spurt, girls typically put on some extra weight, which is often a cause of intense concern. The start of menses usually happens once all these other stages have been introduced, usually between ten and twelve years old. Boys usually do not start to mature until they are somewhere between nine and twelve years old and their development is usually started with an enlargement of the testes. This is followed by growth of the penis and a deepening of the skin tones. Boys may not always notice this growth at first, but most experience their first ejaculation as a nocturnal emission, or wet dream. This typically happens between the ages of eleven and fifteen for most boys. Pubic hair begins to appear anytime between the ages of nine and twelve as well, frequently causing small bumps that are completely natural but often cause concern. Like girls, boys often go through a sudden growth spurt in this time period, frequently gaining some weight in the process. Other changes, such as a change in the shape of the face, a broadening of the shoulders, increased body strength and a deepening of the voice also take place during this period in a boy’s life. Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages of Development Erik Erikson has developed a theory that includes eight distinct psychosocial stages of development, each one representing a psychosocial crisis that must be resolved before the individual can proceed on to the next stage. These stages include the oral-sensory stage, the muscular-anal stage, the locomotor stage, the latency stage, the adolescent stage, young adulthood, middle adulthood and maturity. As might be expected the oral-sensory stage is the first stage a human being comes into contact with and is associated with infants between the ages of birth and approximately 18 months. During this phase of development, the infant is most concerned with feeding, making it essential that this individual form a relationship with a caregiver. The principle issue at stake is trust or mistrust, determined by whether the caregiver is loving and responsive or distant and neglectful. The muscular-anal stage follows this stage up to approximately age three as the child becomes caught up in the toilet training phase of his/her life and learns either autonomy or self-doubt. It is also during this phase that the child is learning how to control several other muscle groups in their body, the reactions to which can contribute a great deal to how much confidence they will have in their own abilities. The locomotor stage, to about age six, is nearly self-explanatory as the child learns independence, constantly testing the fine line between self-initiative and guilt at stepping over their boundary. The latency stage lasts until the child is approximately 12 years old and is typified by the elementary school days in which the child is able to explore their own industry or suffer from their inadequacies, developing instead a sense of inferiority. The adolescent stage can be loosely related to the high school years when the individual develops important peer relationships and struggles to develop their own sense of identity and role in life. Young adulthood is classified as those individuals to age 40 who are primarily involved in developing love relationships, facing the basic conflict of intimacy or isolation. Middle adulthood, up to age 65, is characterized by parenting and deals mainly with supporting the next generation or simply stagnating in their current life position. Maturity is only reached after age 65 when the individual is able to finally reflect on their life and accept its major events. The major conflict here is one of ego-integrity or despair, depending upon how well one was able to define oneself and feel fulfilled. Read More

There were smart children who felt they were stupid simply because their eye color was incorrect for the day. The experiment also drew such national attention that it forced many adults to think about how they would react had they been placed in a similar situation and brought the issue into public debate. Although I think I might have been slightly traumatized as a child to think that because my eyes were brown, I was not as intelligent as the other kids in class whose eyes were blue (especially since my brother’s eyes are blue and I know I’m smarter than he is), I think the only lasting effect I would have had would be a new appreciation for getting to know the individual in front of me rather than basing my opinion and judgment upon a preconceived idea of who that person is based on what I’ve been told about their culture, ethnicity, etc.

Stanford Prison Experiment The Stanford Prison experiment was much more shocking to me than the Jane Elliot video. It is disturbing to think that people can become so bestial based completely on what is expected of them in their various roles within a given society and regardless of the principles and moralities they hold outside of this setting. Although all of the men selected to participate in the experiment were normal, middle-class people of roughly the same experience level, social class and morality base, the way in which they differed by the end of the experiment was tremendous.

The prisoners’ action to revolt did not seem unduly out of line, especially given the context of when the experiment was taking place, since there had been a lot of real-life prison incidences in the news. However, the increasingly abusive behavior of the guards in dishing out punishments and then in humiliating the prisoners just because they were in a position that allowed them to or because they were ‘playing a role’ was a surprise. The idea that they were doing all those horrible things because they were conforming to the part they were playing was amazing to me.

I kept wondering how come no one was standing up and pointing out how crazy this was that people were being treated in such a brutal fashion. When the experiment was halted early because one researcher finally did come in and point out the madness, the other researchers ridiculed her to the point where she began to doubt even her own reaction. To me, this speaks very eloquently about the power of the human mind to not only coerce others into doing what they want as in the case of the researchers telling the guards to behave like real prison guards, but also in the capacity of individuals to completely subdue their ‘normal’ personalities in order to meet with an expected or perceived societal norm, regardless of how that might disagree with their own ethical and moralistic code.

Adolescence Adolescence typically refers to that time in a person’s life when they are transitioning from the life of a child to the life of an adult. This includes all the physiological changes that occur in the person’s body as they mature into adulthood as well as the changes in thinking that must accompany those changes if one is to become a responsible adult. Adolescence differs depending on whether one is male or female, with females typically maturing much earlier than males. For girls, adolescence usually begins with the beginning of breast development when they are between eight and eleven years old.

Breast development usually occurs as the level of estrogen in the girl’s bloodstream increases as a result of hormones. This stage is followed, with continued hormone involvement, by the development of pubic hair between nine and eleven years old and a period of rapid growth in the body between the ages of ten and twelve years old. During the growth spurt, girls typically put on some extra weight, which is often a cause of intense concern. The start of menses usually happens once all these other stages have been introduced, usually between ten and twelve years old.

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