SYD4700 Exam Oct5 Dr Ramirez Exam 1 Review Guide Minority Group Is a subordinate group whose members have significantly less control or power over their own lives than do the members of a dominant or majority group Minority means the same as subordinate Dominant is used interchangeably with majority five characteristics of a minority or subordinate group Experience unequal treatment and have less power over their lives 1 2 Minorities share physical skin color or language that distinguishes them from the dominant group 3 Not voluntary born into the group 4 Have such a strong sense of solidarity 5 Generally marry other from the same group Four Types of minority groups 1 Racial Groups A group set apart because of obvious physical differences Skin color 2 Ethnic Groups Groups set apart from others because of their national origin or distinctive cultural patterns Hispanics Latinos Mexican Americans Cubans 3 Religious Groups religion of than the dominant faith Muslim 4 Gender Groups Males are the social majority Females are social minority Women encounter prejudice and discrimination and are physically distinguishable Biological Notions of Race Biological Race the mistaken notion of a genetically isolated human group 1 2 Absence of Pure Races No mutually exclusive races Given people s frequent migration exploration and invasions pure genetic types have not existed for some time Intelligence Tests Measured intelligence IQ Intelligence quotient IQ It is the ratio of a persons mental age to his or her chronological age multiplied by 100 The social construction of race The acceptance of race in society as a legitimate category allows racial hierarchies to emerge to the benefit of the dominant races Race implies that groups that differ physically also bear distinctive emotional and mental abilities or disabilities Notion that mankind can be divided into groups 1 Racism a doctrine that one race is superior 2 Racial Formation a sociohistorical process by which racial categories are created inhabited transformed and destroyed Define people based on their social structure 3 4 Panethnicity the development of solidarity between ethnic subgroups as reflected in the terms Hispanic or Asian American Multiracial or Multiethnic Marginality the status of being between two cultures at the same time such as the status of Jewish immigrants in the United States Mother Jew and father Christian Sociology the systematic study of social behavior and human groups enlarge our understanding of intergroup relations Class Social ranking of people who share similar levels wealth Stratification structured ranking of entire groups of people that perpetuate unequal rewards and power in a society Theoretical Perspectives 1 2 Functionalist Perspective emphasizes how the parts of society are structured to maintain its stability Functionalists would point out that it serves some positive functions from the perspective of the racists Conflicting Perspectives A sociological approach that assumes that the social structure is the best understood in terms of conflict or tension between competing groups Society is a struggle between the privileged the dominant group and the exploited the subordinate group Blaming the Victim portraying the problems of racial and ethnic minorities as their fault rather than recognizing society s responsibilities 3 Laboring Theory a sociological approach introduced by Howard Becker that attempts to explain why certain people are viewed as deviants and others engaging in the same behavior are not Stereotypes unreliable exaggerated generalizations about all members of a group that do not take individual differences into account Self Fulfilling Prophecy the tendency to respond to and act on the basis of stereotypes a predisposition that can lead one to validate false definitions Three situations that is likely to lead to the formation of a subordinate group 1 Migration a general term that describes any transfer of population 2 3 4 Globalization worldwide integration of government policies cultures social movements of Emigration leaving a country to settle in another Immigration coming into a new country as a permanent resident people and their exchange ideas 5 Annexation nations particularly during wars or as a result of war incorporate or attach land 6 Then the dominant power generally suppresses the language and culture of the minority Colonialism a foreign power s maintenance of political social economic and cultural dominance over people for an extended period Six consequences of subordinate Group Status 1 2 Ethnic Cleansing forced deportation of people accompanied by systematic violence Extermination Genocide The deliberate systematic killing of an entire people or nation Expulsion Dominant groups may choose to force a specific subordinate group to leave certain areas or even vacate a country Secession A group ceases to be a subordinate group when it secedes to form new nation Segregation Is the physical separation of two groups in residence workplace and social functions imposed on a subordinate gro9up by the dominant group Fusion A minority and majority group combining to form a new group 5 6 Assimilation the process by which a subordinate individual or group takes on the characteristics 3 4 of the dominant group 7 Melting Pot diverse racial or ethic groups or both forming a new creation a new cultural entity 8 Amalgamation the process by which s dominant group and a subordinate group combine through intermarriage to form a new group 9 Pluralism mutual respect between the various groups in a society for one another s cultures allowing minorities to express their own culture without experiencing prejudice or hostility Chapter 2 1 Prejudice a negative attitude toward an entire category of people such as a racial or ethnic minority Ethnophaulisms ethnic or racial slurs including derisive nicknames 2 3 Discrimination the denial of opportunities and equal rights to individuals and groups because of prejudice or for other arbitrary reasons 4 White Privilege rights or immunities granted as a particular benefit or favor for being white ex Never having to speak for all of the people of your race Merton s Typology Prejudice does not necessarily coincide with discriminatory behavior He shows that they are related to each other but not the same LaPiere s Study He points out that that attitudes should not be confused with behavior He exposed the relationship between racial attitudes and social conduct