Majority and Minority Social Interaction - Assignment Example

Majority and Minority Social InteractionSocial interactions that take place between minority and majority groups can be divided into patterns of pluralism, assimilation, segregation and genocide (Macionis, 2002). Majority and minority interactions are said to be pluralistic in nature when people living in a society may be different in the context of their traditions such as their clothing patters and events they celebrate, but they all share equal amount of quality and quantity of resources.

For example: in under the constitution of United States all people are given the right to freely exercise their religion but the religious customs and practices differ from each other.The social interactions between minority and majority groups and members of the society even has a pattern of assimilation in which either the minority or the majority or both the groups accept as well as adopt the practices performed by each other. In most cases it is the minority that is influenced by the practices of majority and they adopt those practices.

For example the Muslim minority of United States have accepted the western style dressing sense which has helped them in gaining acceptability in the society of United States. Another pattern of communication taking place between the majorities and the minorities is segregation. When these two groups are involved in social interactions that are segregated in nature, these two groups are divided into two separate categories in the context of separation that is social as well as physical in nature.

A major example of this form of segregation is the segregation of residential areas occupied by the minorities and the majorities. The minorities mostly occupy residential areas that are not well maintained and have a higher level of crime rate. These residential areas may have residences that are cheaper in comparison to the areas occupied by the majorities. The last form of social interactions taking place between minorities and majorities can be regarded as genocide. In this form of social interaction, the majority group tries to destroy the entire or certain portion of the minority groups.

For example now a day’s Muslims who form the minority of the region of United States have experienced destruction at the hands of the majority. They have been termed as terrorists and their religious as well as cultural practices have been attacked again and again by the majority of the population of United States. Several patterns of social interactions exit between minority and majority groups, one such pattern can be regarded as co-existence. Co-existence is a form of interaction between the majority and the minority groups where both the group live together even when they have differences that are fundamental in nature.

In this form of interaction, both neither accept or reject the social lives of each other and live peacefully without harming each other. For example in a workforce comprising of both males and females, both the groups continue to operate with each other and depend on each other even when both have differences with each other.ReferencesMacionis, J., & Gerber, L. (2002). Sociology (1st ed.). Toronto: Prentice Hall.