Reading Response, Causes Of Prejudice Article Review Examples

In his article “Causes of Prejudice”, Vincent N. Parrillo examines different causes of social, racial and psychological prejudice. There is no one way to view prejudice that can stem from a number of places. This article looks carefully at the psychological and sociological reasons for prejudice, both of which contribute to our understanding of prejudice. Under the larger category of “The Psychology of Prejudice”, Parrillo studies the cognitive, emotional and action-orientation levels of prejudice, self-justification, personality and frustration (pp 578-580). In his section on “The Sociology of Prejudice”, he explores different elements of prejudice as the result of socialization, of economic competition, and of social norms (pp 586-589). His conclusion is that prejudice does not have only one cause, but has several different causes.
This is one of the first articles that I have read which lays out several different causes of prejudice. The section on sociological aspects gives reasons that I have heard before, but placing this section after the psychological section, was a very smart literary decision. Structurally, the article starts from the personal perspective and evolves into the social perspective. Historically speaking, prejudice has led to the downfall of many important individuals and/or societies. I have learned about scapegoats, but this article spends a great deal of time describing the connection between scapegoating and prejudice. It seems to me though that scapegoating is not just a psychological phenomenon but relates to the social aspect as well. It would be impossible to separate one from the other. A number of the psychological explanations can also be results of sociological problems, such as education and families, which Parrillo does not discuss much.
However, it is not sufficient just to analyze the causes of prejudice, but it would be interesting to look at some solutions. Some theories, according to Parrillo, disagree about the causes of prejudice, but Parrillo doesn’t discuss the next step. I think it’s quite evident that prejudice exists, and Parrillo explains satisfactorily the causes of it. Once we know the causes, we become more aware of ourselves and may discover hidden or open prejudice. This article forces the readers to reexamine themselves.