Discrimination Worksheet

Associate Program Material

Discrimination Worksheet

Write a 100- to 200-word response to each of the following questions. Provide citations for all the sources you use.

• What is discrimination? How is discrimination different from prejudice and stereotyping?

By definition, discrimination is the denial of opportunities and equal rights to individuals and groups because of prejudice or for other arbitrary reasons (Schaefer, 2012, pg. 61). Discrimination is not a fair treatment to different categories of people based on many things including race, religion, culture, orientation, and so on. Prejudice is, in my terms, judging someone without actually knowing anything about them. Stereotyping is very similar to prejudice but it is widely known groups that people are placed in like geek or nerd. Discrimination is different because you are acting on the hostility you have for people instead of just thinking about it. For example, it is the difference between thinking about killing someone and actually doing it. Discrimination is probably the most hurtful because you are being open about it to someone instead of thinking it to yourself. Sometimes, bullying at schools is related to discrimination.

• What are the causes of discrimination?

Many aspects cause discrimination. Some of the factors are race, color, religion, national origin, age, and disability. As I mentioned before the first reason is learned behavior. When a child grows up seeing discrimination practiced by your parents, they will probably follow the same mind-set. Another cause is due to the lack of cultural awareness and education. There are many religions that people do not understand or believe. Without the proper knowledge of others beliefs, people tend to discriminate against others. Women tend to be discriminated against in certain cultures and, sometimes in the workplace. It may be that men want to feel superior and in charge. In addition, they may be afraid that women will do...