First Exam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

First Exam - Essay Example In addition, peoples understanding of minority groups is often based on the experience of minority males, and the experience of minority females are much less known and recorded(21). Though both minorities have been hushed, those of female minorities are the worst affected as they have been totally silenced. Prejudice involves an individual thinking negatively of other groups in negative ways, attaches negative emotions, and prejudges individuals based on their group memberships. Every form of prejudice, even the most ancient, started at some point in history. A common factor that is critical in the origin of prejudice is a contest between groups (23). Prejudice originates in the center of that competition and is used to justify and rationalize the advantaged class of the winning set. History gives examples of one group dominating and takes resources from, or eliminates a threat from some other group that becomes a minority group. Prejudice helps mobilize emotional energy for the contest; justify rejection and attack as well as rationalizes the structures of domination such as slavery or segregation. Groups react to the competition and all threats presented by other groups. The link between prejudice and competition has been exhibited in differing settings and circumstances that range f rom labor strikes to the international war. In 1950s, an experiment was conducted to illustrate group competition and prejudice. It was conducted on 11 and 12 years old boys at a summer camp called Robber’s cave. The boys were split into two factions classified as the Rattlers and the eagles and lived in separate cabins. They were frequently pitted beside each other in various activities based on a competitive basis. The boys from each group developed and expressed damaging feelings towards the other group. The strength of this is that it helps to mobilize feelings and justify