Social Bias
Social bias is not a new concept. Human societies have historically been characterized with indifferent treatment of others. The projected hatred towards other people is what is referred to as social bias. In some instances, the hatred can be overwhelming that it may culminate into violence towards the victims of the social bias. Social bias result in a divided society since the society becomes differentiated based on particular criteria that may include race, economic status, religion, ethnic background, and gender among other criteria. Social, bias may stem from prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination of any kind. This paper will offer a critical analysis of the concept of social bias and how it affects the society in general.
Definition of terms
Social bias involves several concepts that include prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination and for a comprehensive understanding of the issue there is need for a clear definition of these terms. Though the three concepts appear to go hand in hand, each can be explained independent from one another. Prejudice can be defined as those negative or hostile attitudes that an individual may be having towards a particular group on the basis of generalized derivatives from a partial source of information. Prejudice thus leads to a negative prejudgment regarding a particular group or its members. Thus prejudice not only incorporates opinions and beliefs, but also consists of attitudes including the feelings of detest, disrespect and hatred (Grobman, 1990).
Stereotypes are the generalizations made in regard to the typical characteristics of a particular group or its members. Stereotypes are usually contained in the minds as they are described as mental products of reality which results in generalizations in regard to a particular group andor its members.
The stereotypical generalizations can be positive or negative but in most cases they are found to be negative. The human society is known to develop stereotypes especially when they are either reluctant or not able to access all the information needed for making a fair judgment about given situations or individuals. Due to the lack of comprehensive information, stereotypes usually aids in filling the blanks. The society more often than not is engaged in the creation and perpetuation of stereotypes without knowing the repercussions and these stereotypes later leads us into biased discrimination and persecution especially the negative stereotypes (Grobman, 1990).
Discrimination on the other hand involves the aspect of placing a particular group and its members at a disadvantaged position and exposing the members of the group to unfair treatment due to their identity. Discrimination occurs when we provide judgments based on our prejudices and stereotypes hence subjecting the victims to different treatment. Discrimination can be split in two categories including personal and institutional discrimination. Personal discrimination is the type of discrimination that refers to discriminatory actions that are committed by at individual levels whereas the institutional discrimination involves those discriminatory activities that are carried out by particular different institutions and organizations. Institutional discrimination may take the form of discriminatory policies or practices (Plous, 2010).
Categories of Biases
Biases can generally be categorized into two main classes of subtle and blatant biases. The subtle bias has been described as a new concept in bias and involves self enhancing techniques. It is oftenly referred to as cool and indirect biases. In these kinds of biases, individuals do not openly declare their biasness. Subtle biases usually underlie the contemporary discrimination where by individuals are more tolerant and comfortable with ones own group as opposed to the out-group. To the out-group, individuals of the inner group are usually exclusive and avoid mixing with the other group. These biases are said to originate from the prevailing internal conflicts between the cultural ideals and biasness. Subtle biases are usually considered as automatic, unconscious, and often unintentional. They are usually underground and may lead to exclusions (Fiske, 2002).
On the other hand the blatant biases are usually the most pronounced overt discriminatory activities which are more often than not conscious, direct and unambiguous. They are usually associated with extremists and originate from the perception that there is an inter-group conflict in regard to economics and values in a hierarchical and dangerous world. Blatant biases are usually associated with violence and the extremists may pose a great danger to those they hate. The extremists usually perceive their in-group to be under eminent threat as opposed to the moderates with the differences exemplified in the nature and measure of the perceived threat (Fiske, 2002).
Impact of bias on the lives of individuals
The impacts of social bias are tremendous since the concept denies the individual a fair opportunity to actualize and enjoy the full resources as provided by the society. Incidences of discrimination are known to negatively impact on the self esteem of the individual. This has emotional repercussions and the individual will have low self esteem and would be emotionally dumb. Institutional bias may result in denial of essential services including insurance policy covers, access to quality education, and the general access to the social amenities provided by the society. At the work place, social biases may result in unnecessary harassments of the victims for instance most gay and lesbian employees are usually harassed based on their sexual orientation as depicted by Raymond Zhou in reporting to China Daily. In his report, Zhou presented a case of Gu Du who was a victim of extortion and harassment after revealing that he was a homosexual (Zhou, 2005). The victims of social bias are usually exposed to unfair treatment and this could go as far as eliciting violence towards the victims. This was the case with slaves in the United States and the Nazi concentration camps during the World War where the Jews were persecuted as the Nazis thought of themselves as a super race. Genocide is regarded as the ultimate expression of hatred against a particular group. This is usually the case with the blatant kind of bias where the extremists can turn violent towards their victims (Grobman, 1990).
Overcoming social biases
There are several strategies that can be employed in overcoming social biases which include but not limited to education and legislation. Education seems to be the most effective way of handling social biases. Direct confrontation may not help and therefore there is need for the public to be educated on the effects of social bias and the importance of social integration. Since social biases as a concept has to do with beliefs and perceptions of a particular group towards another, education is destined to succeed albeit at a slow pace considering that a shift in someones values and beliefs usually takes time. Nevertheless, with time the public will have to change the previously held negative attitudes towards the other group and integration will be inevitable (Fiske, 2002).
The other way of dealing with social biases is by implementing legislations that would criminalize discriminatory acts in what is seen as a more direct confrontational approach. In this regard, all the negative prejudices, stereotypes, and discriminatory activities should be criminalized and thus subject to being punished by law. This serves better to address the problem of blatant biases where the extremists may take advantage of lack of legislation to advance their violent and discriminatory actions. Legislation will also ensure that there are fair opportunities for all people irrespective of their racial, religious, ethnic, economic, and political background. With legislation, the need to be fair and not biased in itself to serve the interests of a particular group as the case of the infamous Jim Crow laws in the South during the 1960s (Plous, 2010).
Conclusion
Social bias has traversed our society in such a manner that children grow up with the socialization that the society is structured. The young children then grow up feeling that they are different and unique as opposed to others. These stereotypes and prejudices are then nurtured to old age and may be regarded as involuntary. Social bias has persistently posed a great challenge to the modern day human society. The vice that reached its peak in the 20th century has followed us into the 21st century. As human beings and having witnessed and learnt about how devastating the effects of social bias can be there is need to tackle the problem with all the seriousness that it deserves. Social biasness has led to great loss of human life and inhuman treatment of fellow human beings and has been responsible for the discrimination that has continued to characterize human civilization.
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