Introduction to Sociology - Sociology of Stress

These flashcards cover key concepts discussed in the Introduction to Sociology lecture on the sociology of stress and race, focusing on definitions and examples related to stereotypes, prejudice, discrimination, and the historical context of racism.

What are stereotypes according to the lecture?

Stereotypes are unreliable generalizations about members of a group that are passed on through hearsay or small samples and are held regardless of evidence.

What does prejudice encompass?

Prejudice encompasses negative attitudes toward an entire category of people.

What is discrimination?

Discrimination involves behaviors that exclude individuals or entire groups from certain rights, opportunities, or privileges.

What is institutional discrimination?

Institutional discrimination is defined as policies and practices of institutions that favor some groups at the expense of others, which can exist even if those who run them do not hold prejudice against the disadvantaged groups.

How does racism relate to power?

Racism serves to give material, institutional, and psychological benefits to one group by denying these benefits to others, thus increasing one group’s power by decreasing another’s.

What was the purpose of the Spanish Mission System?

The purpose was to convert local Native peoples to Catholicism and use their labor for construction, domestic work, and farming.

What were the two policies toward Native peoples in late 1800s California?

The two policies were enslavement in agricultural fields and extermination during the California Gold Rush.

How did stereotypes influence perceptions of Native peoples during colonization?

Stereotypes depicted Native peoples as childlike and primitive or as wild and animalistic, justifying their enslavement or extermination.

What impact did westward expansion have on Native populations?

It led to the removal and extermination of Native nations, justifying these actions through racist ideologies.

According to Dr. Tressie McMillan Cottom, what is racism?

Racism is described as a political weapon used by wealthy individuals to constrain the political power of poor people.