SOC101: Introduction to Sociology (2020.A.01)

Stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination are interconnected concepts but represent distinct aspects of social behavior:

1. Stereotypes:

 Definition: Stereotypes are generalized beliefs or expectations about a particular group of people. They involve oversimplified and often exaggerated ideas, attributing certain characteristics to all members of a group.

 Example: Assuming that all individuals belonging to a certain race are naturally good at sports.

2. Prejudice:

   - *Definition: Prejudice refers to preconceived opinions or attitudes held by individuals or groups about another group. It involves judging others based on their perceived membership in a particular category without considering individual differences.

 Example: Holding a negative opinion about someone solely because of their religious beliefs.

3. Discrimination:

   - *Definition:* Discrimination involves the unfair or prejudicial treatment of individuals based on their membership in a particular group. It is the action or behavior that arises from prejudiced attitudes and stereotypes.

 Example: Refusing to hire someone because of their gender, despite their qualifications.

In summary, stereotypes are generalized beliefs, prejudice is a negative attitude or opinion about a group, and discrimination is the unfair treatment or behavior based on those stereotypes and prejudices. It's essential to recognize and address these issues to promote a more inclusive and equitable society.

SOC101 Introduction to Sociology – Unit 3 Social Inequality Discussion Forum 3 

By Elvia Luisa Guerra

Social Stratification is the segmentation and categorization of people in society regarding some aspects such as ethnicity, education, occupation, income, wealth, etc. (Griffith & Keirns, 2023). Social Stratification occurs in almost all societies in one way or another and in different levels. Consequently, social stratification determines the type of social interactions and enforce norms and beliefs within social groups for good or for bad hence affecting social policy, and to some extent, the access to essential services. Because of the growing globalization phenomenon and advances in technology and communication, social stratification has become a global issue as well with even greater aspects that affect men in society and their countries in the world. In the sociological aspect, sociologists study and examine social stratification under the perspective of three Functionalist, Conflict, and Symbolic Interactionism theories of Sociology to understand stratified social groups’ behavior, interaction, reach and consequences (Griffith & Keirns, 2023).

Functionalist theory examines different social groups and the role each play as a whole and their needed purpose. Functionalists believe each group fulfill functions that are necessary, some roles being more important than others, hence requiring more or less preparation and skills. Income, therefore, and appreciation for each job is measured in importance and skills that need to be learned. The more skillful the person and the position at work, the harder and demanding the tasks are and this dictates the availability of the job’s spots and professionals. Nevertheless, not always depend on education per se but opportunities, and talents, which is the case of sportspeople, singers, dancers, and actors among others. The benefit of social stratification is that encourages preparation and education, but the effect of social stratification lies on the fact that competition not necessarily will depend on education or preparation for unequal access to opportunities reduce the right to compete for the best opportunities to the wealthiest, and higher social class groups (Griffith & Keirns, 2023).

Conflict theorists focus on inequalities that social stratification bring and how social groups produce larger number of poorer people than wealthy due to evident unequal conditions. Conflict theorists argue that richer people own the companies and resources, and poorer people work for them in exchange of wages hence ensuring the former and the latter their position and keeping the cycle. Moreover, these inequalities result in social conflicts and cause the poor class driving losses and bankruptcy to the business’ owners (Griffith & Keirns, 2023). Symbolic Interactionists examine social interaction from the micro level of each group. Symbolic Interactionists support the idea that social stratification cause that people members of different social groups mostly interact within their groups reaffirming their social standing, income, culture, and education. It is, therefore, the form how each group develops, and shapes specific characteristics based on their culture, education, and income (Griffith & Keirns, 2023). 

The difference between these three sociological theories lies on functionalists use a macro approach focusing on interdependence and role of each social group within their society and how services and opportunities are distributed in accordance with importance, biases, stereotypes, prejudice, and even discrimination to each group. While conflict theorist focuses on the conflicts generated by social stratification and explain behaviors that emerge from these conflicts such as the creation of feminist groups, LGBTQI+ community, and unions at workplaces among others. Symbolic Interactionists find the explanation to how social stratification becomes a cycle where factors such as race, gender, age, income, and wealth cause social stratification, and the resulting groups are, at the same time, reaffirmed in each group and shaping their characteristics due to their existent biases and prejudice against each group. 

Although each theory brings their input to how social stratification affects people and society, I believe functionalist theory contribute with the most accurate position concerning social stratification. Each group have a value and play an important role in society hence being necessary. Levels and demands of skills can determine the degree of importance of groups but ensure interaction among them. It determines how basic services and opportunities are distributed. The good news is groups can deal and compete for better institutions, policies, and conditions. Unfortunately, biases, stereotypes, discrimination, and prejudice have undermined society causing pains to social groups and favoring greater inequalities. The effect of social stratification is greater in some societies than others, and is nurtured based on culture, religion, and beliefs. 

On the other hand, stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination are social behaviors that are put into practice since ancient times or origin of human race which clearly could denote them as human practices. While stereotypes refer to a generalized fixed idea and belief about a group or something that is based upon true or partly true (and sometimes untrue) reasons, generalizations harm and ignore the existence of the sociological concept of individual cultures. Prejudice is a preconceived or founded thought and feeling a person has about another person, group, or something frequently not based on personal experience, that can cause either aversive or friendly attitude. Prejudice is a type of bias that can determine the way a person or group is treated for presumed to have objective qualities ascribed to the preconceived thought or feeling. Discrimination is the free practice of unequal distribution of respect, dignity, justice, and opportunities among people and groups. Discrimination is not related to freedom of association. Instead, discrimination denotes harmful practices against humanity and boost inequalities among groups.

The difference between these three is while stereotypes can be founded on facts or not that relates people with similar observable characteristics such as social class, ethnicity, religion, sex, or education. Example of stereotype can be the belief that all women are not too smart, or all men are all logical.  Prejudice is based on individual imagination or perceptions that determine attitudes. Perception is always originated in personality types or personal life experiences positive or negative. Example of prejudice is a human resource professional that select a new hire based on personal thoughts or perceptions about a candidate and not on facts and skills of the candidate. Discrimination may or may not be founded in stereotypes or prejudice, however, it causes serious harm and spread of injustice accentuating inequality and hardships for some groups. Example of discrimination is when the necessary services such as health, education, or connectivity are provided below the minimum standards, or intentional poor customer service to a no privileged group.  

Consequences of social stratification in the U.S.A. are seen all around, especially in societies or localities that are highly stratified. The U.S.A. is highly stratified in some respects and less in others. Income gap between women and men is an institutionalized discrimination. So are extreme low wages for some groups and extreme high wages for others (Griffith & Keirns, 2023). Some groups in American society are more prone to despise poor people causing access to quality education limited or not possible for these people or being treated not accordingly. Similarly, minimum health care services are not plenty available to all citizens equally but sometimes, varying among different ethnic, subculture, or minor groups and depending on the people that oversees their supply.

Another no less important aspect is the sociological difference between the definition of sex and gender. While sex is generally understood as a concept related to biological anatomy and sexual traits received at the time of birth; gender is a sociological definition that supports different sexual behavior and attitudes in people regardless of their sex received at birth. Moreover, studies demonstrate that gender is a social construction and as such acts as a conjunction of behavioral norms associated with sexual identity that are enforced in different groups of socialization and built upon different cultures (Griffith & Keirns, 2021). Throughout time, attitudes associated with sex and sexuality have changed driven by increasing number of people that identify themselves to different ways than their original sex. Furthermore, governments private and public institutions are increasingly enforcing the generalization of gender over sex definition. This phenomenon is being widely accepted in most high-income countries and other cultures as well. Nevertheless, social movements that advocate for family values, and psychological safety of kids and society keep this pervasive gender movement with limited outcomes. Examples are, while some increasing laws that favor gender identity have passed in congress and be enacted in some states, other project of laws that look forward to restraining them are introduced in Congress as well. Moreover, this is a significant point for candidates during elections, and constant debate among the parties and groups of interest (Griffith & Keirns, 2021).

The elderly population is a topic that places several concerns. I see academics and writers' focus is limited to what the media thinks and says about it. Nevertheless, the aging topic and the elderly population requires more than that. Elderlies must be treated accordingly to their age and paid due respect to their condition. Education of the elderly starts at school, and it is refreshed at college where young adults learn personal finance, saving, and the benefits of acquiring a retirement plan. Moreover, encouraging healthy eating and exercising must be part of this education as well. By the time young old groups reach third age, they have plenty right to decide on the type of activities they prefer to do and not fall into the consumerism trap feeling and obligations of continuing producing to support a greedy system. Many elderlies choose to do some useful work at their own pace that reward them with some satisfaction and entertainment. Unfortunately, not all elderlies have this opportunity and some of them are obliged to keep working or depend on welfare state programs as the result of poor preparation for this stage of their life or undesirable life circumstances. Both cases are worth respectable because not all people have the same opportunities but being obliged to work at this point of their life might expose them to abuse or not being treated accordingly. If elderly people choose or prefer to be on movies, commercial, or magazines should be voluntarily and within psychological safe environments. Being old is not a flaw, or error, it is a stage in the life of all human being. Therefore, the importance of receiving early preparation to live it with dignity when the time arrives (Griffith & Keirns, n.d.).

Biological changes in elderly population will depend on genetic inheritance, lifestyle, and nutritional habits. It is not possible for society to dictate an ideal pattern of biological behavior. Everything will depend on early education, information updates on the topic, and physical conditions. Social changes are always more challenging due to the diverse groups’ interaction. It is possible to have a healthy life encouraged by family members, lifelong friends, and workmates. It is in this area that media becomes particularly relevant, and governments must oversee that information published properly addresses and conveys a motivating message to this sector of the population. Psychological changes are always more painful because elderly population become more fragile and emotionally sensitive. Family plays an important role, adequate health attention, and governments must ensure the existence of institutions that can help and are available to provide secondary options for socialization of this sensible part of society (Griffith & Keirns, n.d.).

Word count: 1,821

References:

Griffith, H. & Keirns, N. (2023). Chapter 9 Introduction to Social Stratification.  Heather Griffith and Nathan Keirns for Open Stax Rice University. https://openstax.org/books/introduction-sociology-3e/pages/9-1-what-is-social-stratification

Griffith, H. & Keirns, N. (2021). Chapter 12 Introduction to gender sex and sexuality.  Heather Griffith and Nathan Keirns for Open Stax Rice University https://openstax.org/books/introduction-sociology-2e/pages/12-introduction-to-gender-sex-and-sexuality

Griffith, H. & Keirns, N. (n.d.). Chapter 13 Introduction to aging and the elderly.  Heather Griffith and Nathan Keirns for Open Stax Rice University https://openstax.org/books/introduction-sociology-2e/pages/13-introduction-to-aging-and-the-elderly

1. Functionalism, conflict theory, and interactionism offer different lenses for understanding social stratification. Functionalism views stratification as necessary for the functioning of society, with each social position serving a purpose. Conflict theory sees stratification as a result of competition and inequality, with power dynamics shaping social hierarchies. Interactionism focuses on how individuals perceive and experience stratification through interactions with others. The most beneficial perspective depends on the research question and context, but conflict theory often provides deeper insights into power dynamics and inequalities in social stratification.2. Stereotypes are oversimplified beliefs about a particular group of people. Prejudice refers to preconceived opinions or attitudes, often negative, toward a particular group. Discrimination involves actions or behaviors that disadvantage or harm individuals based on their membership in a particular group. For example, a stereotype might be that all Asians are good at math, prejudice might manifest as someone believing that Asians are inherently more intelligent, and discrimination could be refusing to hire an Asian person based on that belief.3. In the U.S., racial stratification affects access to valuable resources like education and healthcare. Minority groups, particularly Black and Hispanic populations, often face systemic barriers such as underfunded schools in their neighborhoods or limited access to quality healthcare facilities. This can perpetuate cycles of poverty and limit opportunities for upward mobility.4. Sex refers to biological characteristics such as reproductive organs, whereas gender refers to socially constructed roles, behaviors, and identities associated with being male or female. Sociologists explain the social construction of gender by highlighting how societal norms, expectations, and cultural beliefs shape individuals' understanding and expression of masculinity and femininity from an early age through socialization processes.5. Attitudes toward sex and sexuality have evolved over the past several decades, with increased acceptance of diverse sexual orientations and identities. However, full equality has not been achieved, as discrimination and stigma still exist, particularly against LGBTQ+ individuals. Progress has been made in areas such as marriage equality and anti-discrimination laws, but challenges remain in achieving broader societal acceptance and inclusion.6. The elderly population in America faces concerns such as ageism, social isolation, financial insecurity, and access to adequate healthcare. Ageism, or discrimination based on age, can lead to marginalization and lack of opportunities for older adults. Social isolation can contribute to mental health issues, while financial insecurity can result from inadequate retirement savings or pension benefits.7. Biological changes associated with aging include physical decline, such as loss of muscle mass and decreased organ function. Societal changes involve shifts in roles and statuses, such as retirement and changes in social networks. Psychological changes may include adjustments in cognition, memory, and emotional well-being. These changes interact in complex ways, influencing individuals' experiences of aging and shaping their interactions with society.