sociology 8

Social distance

A measure of the likelihood that dissimilar groups will interact in society. Influences the degree of assimilation for minority groups

Affirmative action

A policy in educational admissions or job hiring that gives special attention or compensatory treatment to traditionally disadvantaged groups in an effort to overcome present effects of past discrimination.

Frustration-aggression hypothesis

People who are frustrated in their efforts to achieve a highly desired goal will respond with a pattern of aggression toward others

Psychological assimilation

a change in racial or ethnic self-identification on the part of an individual

Assimulation

a pattern of relations between ethnic or racial groups in which the minority group is absorbed into the mainstream or dominant group, making society more homogenous

Scapegoat

a person or group that is incapable of offering resistance to the hostility or aggression of others. They are convenient and less feared targets on which to place the blame for one's own troubles, frustrations, failures, or sense of guilt

Racism

a set of beliefs about the superi-ority of one racial or ethnic group; used to justify inequality and often rooted in the assumption that differences between groups are genetic

Ethnicity

a socially defined category based on common language, religion, nationality, history, or another cultural factor

Race

a socially defined category based on real or perceived biological differences between groups of people

Contact hypothesis

argues that prejudice will be reduced through social interaction with those of different race or ethnicity under conditions of equal status

Institutional discrimination

discrimi-nation carried out systematically by insti-tutions (political, economic, educational, and others) that affect all members of a group who come into contact with it

Individual discrimination

discrimination carried out by one person against another

Authoritarian personality hypothesis

individuals with an authoritarian personality are likely to be prejudiced against minorities

Pluralism

is a cultural pattern of intergroup relations wherein a variety of racial and ethnic groups maintain their distinctive cultures and histories, but coexist within one society

Racial/ethnic stratification

is the hierarchical distribution of social and economic resources (wealth, power, and prestige) according to race or ethnicity

Minority group

members of a social group that is systematically denied the same access to power and resources available to society's dominant groups but who are not necessarily fewer in number than the dominant groups

Prejudice

negative attitude or value judgment about members of selected racial and ethnic groups based upon conceptions about that social group that are held despite facts that contradict it

Stereotype

overgeneralized beliefs about the appearance, behavior, or other characteristics of members of particular categories

Racial assimilation

racial minority groups are absorbed into the dominant group through intermarriage

Cultural assimilation

racial or ethnic groups are absorbed into the dominant group by adopting the dominant group's culture

Genocide

the deliberate and systematic extermination of a racial, ethnic, national, or cultural group

Population transfer

the forcible removal of a group of people from the territory they have occupied

Segregation

the formal and legal separation of groups by race or ethnicity

Theory of racial formation

the idea that actions of the government substantially define racial and ethnic relations in the United States

Discrimination

unequal treatment of individuals based on their membership in a social group; usually motivated by prejudice

Structural assimilation

when members of a subordinate racial or ethnic group gain (impersonal) acceptance in everyday social interactions with members of the dominant group, especially in the context of large social institutions