There are many concepts that underpin discrimination and many theories to draw from this paper will detail and explore the definitions, concepts, and theories such as Stereotyping, Social Identity Theory, and Conflict Theory which are all to the fore in prejudice and discrimination. It will seek to examine current research and suggest strategies based on best practice and evidence to combat discrimination and prejudice within organisations to allow for a healthy productive workforce.
Prejudice is an unjustified or incorrect negative attitude in the direction of an individual based exclusively on the individual’s affiliation with a social group, a prejudiced person might not act on their attitude. Therefore, someone can be biased to a definite
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Allport theorised that there were five methods in which discrimination can occur (Allport, Clark, & Pettigrew, 1979b). These include verbal discrimination, avoidance, and denial of service or withholding service, physical assault, and extermination. Gordon Allport’s, the nature of prejudice, defined the field of intergroup associations for social psychologists as the study of prejudice and its effects on group interactions. He brought the subject of ethnic stereotyping to the fore in behavioural science by treating this phenomenon as regular cognitive functioning. The cognitive approach is now the most dominant academic perspectives in research on prejudice and discrimination. (Katz, …show more content…
This may explain why prejudice increases dramatically during periods of economic and social stress. According to (Russell, Quinn, ’riain, & Mcginnity, 2008) The Experience of Discrimination in Ireland Report (2008) revealed that individuals working in Ireland in the education and transport divisions have higher reports of discrimination in the workplace when the occupation of workers are taken into account. Respondents working in financial services are less likely to report discrimination. The results suggest that it is the configuration of the workforce, as opposed to the sector or occupation in which they work, that is likely to be associated with higher rates of discrimination. Women were more likely than men to feel that they have been discriminated against at work, 5.7 per cent of women report, compared to 4.1 per cent of men, these results are consistent with analyses of working conditions and labour market experiences which show that women are disadvantaged when compared to men in relation to pay (Russell, Quinn, & King-O’Riain,