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Study Guide for TEST 2

[Revised: August 14, 2011]


Chapter 3

I.     Reducing Prejudice: Some Principles and Approaches

1.     Chapter 3 begins with a discussion of several approaches to reducing prejudice.  Know the description and limitations of each.

  • Persuasive communication
  • Receiving the message must be a positive experience
  • Works best when people are already not prejudiced.
  • Education
  • Works best to reduce prejudice where prejudice is learned or occurs as a result of peer pressure.
  • college courses would be most successful in reducing prejudice if they were mandatory.  It would avoid the problem of self selection.
  • some times teachers are themselves prejudiced.
  • Intergroup Contact
  • The Contact Hypothesis:  Contact must be more than superficial
  • Sherif's Robber's Cave Experiment
  • Simulation Exercises
  • Therapy
  • Therapy is required when prejudice arises from personality needs

II.     How Important is Prejudice?

2.     What is the significance of the LaPiere study? Be specific!

3.     Robert Merton:  Do prejudice and discrimination always occur together? Know the components of Merton's Typology.

4.     Cognitive Dissonance Theory:  What comes first:   discrimination or attitudes?

5.     The Carlsmith Experiment:  Does behavior determine attitudes?

6.     What is the Bogardus Scale?

7.     Discuss the percentage of people who would vote for a Black candidate for president.  Discuss this from the perspective of Blacks and Whites.  TEXT QUESTION

8.     Discuss the percentage of people who approve of marriage between Blacks and Whites.  Discuss this from the perspective of Blacks and Whites.  TEXT QUESTION

9.     From 1942 to 1978, the percentage of whites who would agree with the statement that "Blacks are as intelligent as whites" has increased.  TEXT QUESTION (p59)

10.     From 1942 to 1978, the percentage of whites who would agree with the statement that "white children and black children should attend the same schools" has increased.  TEXT QUESTION (p59)

11.     What is symbolic racism?


Chapter 4

I.     Sociological vs. Social Psychological Approaches

1.     Social-psychological approaches and sociological or social structural approaches to understanding majority/minority relations.

  • Focus of Social - Psychological Approach:  personality characteristics of the individual,   learned features.
  • Focus of Social Structure Approach: collectivities of people, groups, institutions, society.

III.     Order and Conflict: Two Sociological Perspectives

2.     Functionalist Theory.

  • Emile Durkheim
  • Minor adjustments, not whole sale change, are desirable.
  • Functionalists are concerned about the potential for serious disruption in society.
  • Know general characteristics of society from a functionalist point of view.

IV.     Conflict Perspective

3.     Conflict Perspective.

  • Discuss Marx and conflict theory.
  • Competing interests in society have unequal power
  • The wealthy control the means of production.   This includes things of economic value.
  • Those with wealth and power employ Ideology to determine other aspects of society such as the political system and culture in general.

V.     A Comparison of Functionalist and Conflict Theory

4.     Discuss the synthesis between the functionalist and conflict perspective.

  • Both theories are partially correct
  • Societies go through cycles of stability and conflict.

VI.     The Social Structural Perspective and Social Problems

5.     The definition of social problems:  A functionalist view.

6.     The definition of social problems:  A conflict point of view.

7.     The location of social problems:  Functionalist perspectives.

8.     The location of social problems:  Conflict perspectives.

VII.     Social Structural Perspectives and Majority/Minority Relations

9.     Inequality:  A  Functional Perspective

  • Why does inequality exist from a functional perspective?  Give three points.
  • What is ethnic stratification?  Is ethnic stratification functional?
  • How does ethnic stratification develop according to a functionalist perspective?
  • How does one reduce or eliminate ethnic stratification according to the functionalists?  (Assimilation)

10.     Inequality:  A Conflict Perspective

  • It exists because it severs the interests of the dominant group
  • Conflict theory provides three points of critique regarding the functionalist explanation of ethnic stratification.  What are they?

11.     Theories of Racial and Ethnic Inequality

  • Marxist
  • Inequality is based mainly on class.
  • Racism is a mechanism used by the wealthy to prevent the working class from achieving it's full potential
  • False-consciousness:  The pattern of subordinate groups’ acceptance of an ideology that goes against its own self-interest.
  • Split-Labor Market
  • There are three classes  Those who own the means of production, highly paid workers, and low paid workers.
  • Why do people discriminate?
  • Internal Colonialism
  • Social inequality is largely based on race and ethnicity.
  • The dominant groups established a system of inequality for it's own benefit.

VIII.     Culture of Poverty

12.     Culture of Poverty

  • A Functionalist Perspective
  • The poor have qualitatively different values and lifestyles than the middle class and wealthy.
  • The Moynihan Report
  • Discuss culture of poverty and welfare policy from a functionalist and conflict theory point of view. Give two functionalist points and one conflict point.

13.     Discuss Teenage Pregnancy and the Black Family.