Prejudice, comformity and stereotyping in American History Essay

Ameri preempt annals X is a great film that portrays prejudice, stereotyping and adjustity. detriment is negative attitudes toward others based on their gender, piety, charge, or membership in a finicky assort. prepossess involves beliefs and emotions that tail end turn into disgust. Having an opinion or idea to the highest degree a member of a group with come forth real knowing that individual is a part of prejudice. Some good deal make judgments ab break through a livelong group of lot without knowing very much about them. Sometimes people ar panic-stricken of those who percolatem different from them and unfortunately, they express that with name-c entirelying and negative treatment. When people grow up with these ideas, sometimes its difficult to get rid of them. Like in the painting Ameri piece of tail History X, a father is sit at the family dinner party table and states his opinion of why he impressions certain people of minority groups got their job. This influences how his children feel. detriment is a premature judgment, a positive or negative attitude towards a person or group of people, which is not based on objective facts. The prejudgements ar usu everyy based on classifys, which are shared beliefs about the characteristic traits, attitudes, and fashions of members of various affable groups including the assumption that the members of such groups are usu exclusivelyy all alike. As the story line unfolds in Ameri net History X, the main character of the story leave behind realize that not all people of a particular race are the homogeneous. A prejudgment may be based on an emotional experience we prevail had with a similar person, port of our own personal stereotype. Stereotypes similarly provide us with role expectations.How we expect the other person or group to relate to us and to other people. Our culture has many of ready made stereotypes such as leaders are dominant, arrogant men, housewives are nice but empty headed, teenagers are music tempestuous andvery smart people are weird. Sometimes a leader or housewife or teenager is somewhat like the stereotype but it is an injustice to automatically assume they all are.Prejudice substructure be in the form of negative put downs and helps those of us on top feel okay about being there. Prejudice can be a hostile, resentful feeling or dislike for someone or an unfair blaming or degrading of others.Along with prejudice and stereotypes, goes setity. The more people already agree upon or share a particular idea, the more easily a dispatcher will turn to be converted to that idea, and the more difficult it will be for one already converted to reject that ideaSummary of The FilmThe movie starts out through the eyes of Danny Vinyard, who idolizes his ripened brother Derek. Derek is seeking revenge for his fathers murder and burning a way to bare his rage. His father was a firefighter who was on duty one night putting out a fire at a crack house. His father was shot and killed by sour drug addicts slice fighting a fire in a crack house in a black neighborhood. He blames all black people for the destruction of his father. Derek hates anyone who is not a white protestant. Later it is lettered that it wasnt just his fathers death that shaped him, but his fathers talk at the dinner table one night about racism.Derek finds himself transformed by a philosophy of hate as he turns into a disciple of a radical group of a local anaesthetic white power movement. He be get holds a leader in this white supremacy group called the medical student organizing the other white kids in his neighborhood under the rule of a leader of the group named Cameron who girdle behind the medical prognosis to keep his record clean. The skinheads that rule his group are convincing and are a very bonding group. It is assumed in their existence that that all races stick together and are at undeclared war with all others. They are very much prejudic e and all conform to the comparable stereotype.Despite Dereks intelligence, his violent actions end in a brutal murder andultimately, a prison sentence. One night two black kids attempt to steal Dereks car, as the resultant of a playground feud that took place earlier. Derek fires his gun to kill and commits violent actions,which ends up in the death of the two black kids who tried to steal his car. Hes convicted of murder and sent to prison for trey years.While in prison, Derek begins to see affaires in a different way. While in throw away he leases some hard truths about life from a fellow inmate and his old high drill principal that takes special interest in him. Avery Brooks, the principle ask Derek a puissant question. Has any thing youve done alternated your life? But, when Derek emerges with a desire to change his attitude, he finds that words are not enough. threesome years later, everyone awaits Dereks return. His mother Doris who prays for his safety, his girlfrie nd Stacey who longs for his return, and most of all Danny whos desperate for his brothers love and guidance, yet is driven by his own increasing white supremacy execration. Danny who idolizes Derek has stepped into his shoes. Following the conference of the white supremacy group the DOC. Avery Brooks the high school principle who has helped Derek also tries to help Danny by telling him to write a paper on his brother in hope to make him see things in a different light.Unbeknown to Danny, Derek is a changed man. Fresh from prison, he no longer views hatred as a badge of honor. Ashamed of his past he is now in a race to save Danny and the Vineyard family from the violence he brought down upon them. His mind is open and sees theerror of his ways. Upon reentering the real world, he mustiness now turn his attentions to his younger brother Danny, who is swiftly heading down the same roadway as his brother. He tells Danny to listen to Avery Brooks the principal of the high school who h as made Danny write a paper on Derek. He also tells Danny of the experience he had it jail and how it has changedhim. It is too late and in the end Danny is murdered in school one day by one of the younger brothers of whom Derek had murdered.What is state at the end of the movie seems to sum it up quite well. Hate is baggage. Life is too footling to be pissed off all the time. Derek says, Its always good to end the paper with a quote. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Through passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic cords of memory will swell when again touched as surely they will be by the better angels of our nature. (Lincoln, 1861)Psychological PrinciplesThis school of psychology that I cogitate this film falls under is the school of behaviorism. Behaviorism views observable, measurable behavior rather than internal rational processes as the appropriate subject matter of psychology. Stresses the key roles of learni ng and the environment in determining behavior. The movie also deals with social psychology. It defines the reasons of why and how we behave and emotions and feeling we have. The why of how we feel, what we do and how we come about the decisions we make. It also affects our attitudes, feelings and emotions that make us who we are and what we do.Attitudes can be formed either positive or negative. When we see parents, family, friends or t severallyer express positive or negative attitudes toward certain issues or people, we tendto correct the same attitudes as them. This is true in the movie American History X when Derek listened to his fathers conversation at the dinner table about racism.In observational learning, individuals learn by find the behavior of other and then imitate that behavior. This is true in the film because theskinheads of the group learn by observing the others and behaving the same way. Observational learning results when people observe the behavior of others and not the consequences.Derek uses stereotype gestateing because he believes that all black people are bad and has a lot of hatred because of how his father died. Derek also learns to be part of the neo Nazi group by modeling Cameron the organiser and head of the DOC.A persons cognitive abilities, physical characteristics, personality, beliefs, attitudes influence both his or her behavior and environment. A persons behavior can affect his feelings about himself and his attitudes and beliefs about others. Much of a person knows comes from the environmental resources such as television, parents, and books. Environment also affects behavior what a person observes can powerfully influence what he does. But a persons behavior also contributes to his environment.On the night Danny tells his brother that the black kids are prisonbreak into his car he does not even think about what he is doing. A case of classical conditioning a form of learning that has powerful issuings on attitudes likes and dislikes and emotional responses.Conformity involves the changing of ones attitude, opinions, or behavior to married person the attitudes, opinions, or behaviors of others. The pressures to act like other people, sometimes despite our true feelings and desires. In American History X Derek, Danny and all the other skin heads are take on this idea to belong to the neo-nazi group.The scene in the movie where the skinheads destroy a neighborhood grocery store that is been taken over by a minority group show the skinheads conform to norms. These norms tell us what we should or ought to be thinking, feeling, or doing if we want to fit in with a particular group. Most people conform to norms without much thing about it.Through the complete movie Danny idolizes his brother and there for his ways can also be contributed to social psychology. The presence of others influences the thoughts, feelings and how he behaves. The expectancy theory can also be related to Danny. He feels he is expected to be racist because of the situation his brother is in. Because of the day-to-day expose of his racist feelings and the neo-nazi group he does not think of anything else so he is in constant characterization to negative feelings.While Derek is in jail and comes to realize that all people are not the same that there is good and bad in everyone he changes his attitude and behavior. Cognitive dissonance would come into effect here. Derek becomes aware of his ways and changes his behavior, attitude and reduces the importance of racism in his life.Accuracy of Psychology PortrayedAmerican History X shows prejudice, stereotyping and conformity excellent. It shows how Derek comes about to be prejudice and to have his racial attitude. The movie shows that in the world of the skinhead neo Nazi, slogans replace thought, feeling and mindless hatred that is shocking. The bonding of this group portrays how conformity takes place. Dereks attitude, behavior and speeches to the oth er kids persuade them to conform to the group. He makes them see things in his view. It shows how one person can change the thoughts and feeling of someone with a vulnerable mind. The movie also shows a way of breaking the vicious circle of hatred.Between the two parts in the movie, Dereks fathers conversation at the dinner table expressing prejudice toward a different race and how his father died shows how social learning can come into effect. Children learn from what they hear causing them to be prejudice and to stereotype other people. The neo-nazi group shared beliefs about the characteristics of members of a different racial group. The thinking made them all believe that all they areall alike.In the end the move tells the shows the truth that prejudice has no intrinsic worth. It only harms those who feel its outrage and ultimately harms those who practice it.ConclusionAmerican History X is a move that takes prejudice, stereotyping and conformity and shows how each one can rela te to the other. The film makes you stop and think about your thoughts and emotions on these subjects. Part of the utmost quote of this move says a lot. That hate is baggage. If we open our minds and see the world as a whole we can then realize that not everyone in the world is the same because of their race, gender or religion or so forth. Being prejudice and stereotyping people only leads to harm. We should not conform to the beliefs of others if we feel differently. We should be who we are and not be persuaded to feel otherwise. American History X in the end shows us that no matter what social group we belong to in society it does not mean that we all have the same characteristics, attitudes or behavior.It just goes to say that as we grow and experience things around us in our environment we tend to conform to the ways of society to form our personality and attitudes. The more we explicate our young people and be good role models maybe then and only then can we prevent a situat ion like American History X form happening. A complete example of conformity is in the scene which we see the skinheads bonding. They are led by Dereks brilliant speechmaking andfueled by drugs, beer, tattoos, and heavy metal and need all insecure people feel to belong to a movement greater then themselves. Together they feel that in their world all races stick together and are at undeclared war with all othersMy conclusion to this topic is that some people are oblivious to the emotional tones that they generate from their ignorant usage of stereotypical labels. I just think some people do not know it when they label someone and it brings out an emotional tone or negative implication. Its all just ignorance. Or what people have been taught growing up in a government that strives for being the normal and the best. Learning through unwilled messages, whether through school, games, and especially television. It is time for people to unlearn what they have been taught and start openin g their minds about this particular subject. It is the nature of prejudice that is the reason why we have violence in the world.I dont think Derek would have come to have a change in attitude or behavior had it not been for the experience he had in jail. Coming full circle and realizing the reality that not everyone is the same and just because of your race, religion or gender we all are individuals. Derek was a product of his environment. Having conformed to a group of neo-nazi people who do nothing but see their world and dont think out side of it. This would be kind of like the saying thinking out of the box. Until his ordeal in jail he had experienced groupthink. A tragedy had to happen in order for a cultural change to take place.ReferencesAugustinos, M. (2001). Understanding Prejudice Racism and Social Conflict. Pennsylvania W.B. Saunder Company.Ruscher, J. B. (2001). Prejudiced communication A social psychological perspective. New York Guilford Press.Welkos, R. W. (1998, Octo ber 21). The Tin Line Between Fear and Hate. Online. Available http//www.geocities.com/sunsetstrip/club.3036/analysel.htm.Wood, S. , & Wood, E. (1999). The Essential World of Psychology. Maine Allyn & Bacon