Free Essay Sample: Racism and Sociology

Culture refers to the beliefs, objects, behaviors, and other common features of a particular group of individuals or a society. Through culture, individuals can define themselves and conform to the shared values of society. However, culture has blended societal ills such as racism, ethnocentrism, and stereotyping, which are elaborated in this article.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

According to Clair & Denis (2015), racism refers to the ideology of racial dominance where the presumed cultural or biological superiority of one race or several racial groups is used to prescribe another racial group's inferior treatment. Racists use physical distinction precepts like skin color to introduce the socially consequential and hierarchical valuation of racial groups (Clair & Denis, 2015).

Ethnocentrism is the positive orientation towards individuals sharing similar ethnicities and a negative orientation towards individuals sharing different ethnicities (Hales & Edmonds, 2018). Contextually, people tend to divide individuals based on who they consider to be part of their group while considering the rest as outsiders.

Stereotype refers to a misguided idea, or belief individuals have towards a group of people based on how they appear outside. The mistake is often untrue or partially right. It has been termed as prejudice since personal appearance is an insignificant part of who an individual is (Priest et al., 2018). A majority of the stereotypes use these unverified and untrue stands to discriminate against a person and develop humor in such fiction.

With the world population becoming more diverse, it is critical for everyone, particularly healthcare providers, to learn and understand diverse cultural aspects. While it is natural to feel more comfortable around the people an individual shares common characteristics with, it is wrong to offer specialized treatment to such, especially in a professional setting. As a nurse, it is critical to learn about a culture so as to provide care without ethnocentrism as the patients cannot be derived from the community of nurses' liking.

In conclusion, culture is one of the best human inventions, as it gives individuals identities, beliefs, and a sense of belonging. However, culture should only be essential when it is positive, meaning it should not revolve around negative aspects like racism, ethnocentrism, and stereotypes. When practiced right, it provides health practitioners a platform to learn, grow, and understand the beautiful aspects of diversity, which promotes competent cultural care.

References

Clair, M., & Denis, J. S. (2015). Racism and Sociology. In International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences (pp. 857–863). https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-08-097086-8.32122-5

Hales, D., & Edmonds, B. (2018). Intragenerational Cultural Evolution and Ethnocentrism. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 63(5), 1283–1309. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022002718780481

Priest, N., Slopen, N., Woolford, S., Philip, J. T., Singer, D., Kauffman, A. D., Mosely, K., Davis, M., Ransome, Y., & Williams, D. (2018). Stereotyping across intersections of race and age: Racial stereotyping among White adults working with children. PLOS ONE, 13(9), e0201696. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0201696‌