Download Strangers to these Shores by: Vincent N. Parrillo

The Study of
Minorities
Chapter 1
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Questions We Will Explore
Social Thinking:
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How do we explain people’s behavior?
How do we form our beliefs and attitudes?
How does what we think affect what we do?
Studies of social cognition and understanding
minority groups provide some answers?
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2003
Social Psychology
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Especially when the unexpected occurs,
we analyze why people act as they do.
Social Psychology is the scientific study
of ho we think about, influence, and relate
to one another.
Social Psychology
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Attribution theory is that we tend to give a
causal explanation for someone’s behavior, often
by crediting either the situation or the person’s
disposition.
Dispositional attribution/a situational
attribution = a fundamental attribution error.
The tendency for observers, when analyzing
another’s behavior, to underestimate the impact
of the situation and to overestimate the impact of
personal disposition.
Social Psychology
Attribution theory
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Dose our attitudes guide our actions?
Dos Our actions affect our attitudes?
Why do our actions affect our attitudes?
Is your attitude showing?
Social Psychology
Group Influence
 Individual behavior in the presence of others,
 social facilitation,
 deindividuation,
 group polarization (like-minded strengthens its
prevailing opinion),
 groupthink( mode of thinking that occurs when the
desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides
a realistic appraisal of alternatives.
More Questions to Explore
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What are the three sociological theories
used to study minorities?
How does a minority group differ from an
ethnic group?
How do we define race and ethnic group?
Why is objective study of minorities
difficult?
Sociology & Theory
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Sociology is the study of human
relationships and patterns of behavior.
A theory is an organized set of ideas about a
topic that predicts relationships.
In sociological investigation, three major
perspectives (theories) shape analysis of the
study of minorities: functional theory,
conflict theory, and interactionist theory.
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Functional Theory
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Society seen as a stable, cooperative social
system in which everything has a function
and provides the basis for harmony.
Societal elements function together to
maintain order, stability, and equilibrium.
Social problems, or dysfunctions, result
from temporary disorganization or
maladjustment.
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Functional Theory
(continued)
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Rapid social change is the most frequent
cause of loss of societal equilibrium.
Necessary adjustments will restore the
social system to a state of equilibrium.
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Conflict Theory
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Society is viewed as continually engaged in a
series of disagreements, tensions, and clashes.
Conflict is inevitable because new elites form,
even after the previously oppressed group
“wins.”
Disequilibrium and change are the norm
because of societal inequalities.
If we know who benefits from exploitation, we
understand why discrimination persists.
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Conflict Theory
(continued)
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False consciousness (holding attitudes not
accurately reflecting the objective facts of
the situation) is a technique by which a
ruling elite maintains power and control of
resources.
Group cohesiveness and struggle against
oppression are necessary to affect social
change.
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Interactionist Theory
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This theory focuses on the microsocial
world of personal interaction patterns in
everyday life.
Shared symbols and definitions provide
the basis for interpreting life
experiences.
A social construction of reality becomes
internalized, making it seem to those
who adopt it as if it were objective fact.
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Interactionist Theory
(continued)
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Shared expectations and understandings, or
the absence of these, explain intergroup
relations.
Better communication and intercultural
awareness improve majority-minority
interaction patterns.
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Minority Group and
Dominant Group Defined
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Dominant group - any culturally or physically
distinctive social grouping possessing
economic, political and social power, and
discriminating against a subordinate minority
group.
Minority group - a culturally and physically
distinctive group receiving unequal treatment,
an ascribed status, a sense of shared identity,
and practicing endogamy, marriage within
their group, either by choice or by necessity
because of their social isolation.
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Race and Ethnic Group
Defined
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Race is a categorization in which a large
number of people sharing visible physical
characteristics regard themselves or are
regarded by others as a single group on that
basis.
Ethnic group is a group of people who
share a common religion, nationality,
culture, and/or language.
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The Difficulty
in the Study of Minorities
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The study of minorities presents a difficult
challenge because our value orientations
and life experiences can impair our
objectivity.
Even trained sociologists, being human,
encounter difficulty in maintaining value
neutrality.
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Difficulty (continued)
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Indeed, some people argue that
sociologists should take sides and not
attempt a sterile approach to the subject.
The Dillingham Flaw (using an
inaccurate comparison based on
simplistic categorizations and antiquated
judgments) seriously undermines the
scientific worth of supposedly objective
evaluations.
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Difficulty (continued)
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Both ethnocentrism (a tendency to judge
other cultures or subcultures by the
standards of one’s own culture) and
subjectivity are commonplace in problems
involving intergroup relations.
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Summary
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In sociological investigation of minorities,
three perspectives shape analysis: functional
theory, conflict theory, and interactionist
theory.
The study of minorities presents a difficult
challenge.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2003