Think you know what stereotypes are? If you're relying on definitions from mainstream dictionaries, you're probably, well... guilty of stereotyping. But don't worry. That might not be a bad thing.
Here's the definition from Webster.com: "a standardized mental picture that is held in common by members of a group and that represents an oversimplified opinion, prejudiced attitude, or uncritical judgment"
This
definition clearly reflects the popular perception of stereotypes as
inaccurate and negative overgeneralizations. The only problem is that
this popular perception, much like the image below is mostly inaccurate.
Sure, there are people like
the follow in the cartoon, but most of us who have stereotypical
thoughts (which is to say, all of us) have very different notions of
groups we stereotype than the stereotyped stereotype-holder above. I wrote up the specifics for an edited book on race and ethnicity, but only have permission to post it on my Psychology Today blog.
Please click here to read the full article.
Mikhail Lyubansky, Ph.D., is a teaching associate professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where he teaches Psychology of Race and Ethnicity and courses on restorative justice.
Since 2009, Mikhail has been studying and working with conflict, particularly via Restorative Circles (a restorative practice developed in Brazil by Dominic Barter and associates) and other restorative responses to conflict. Together with Elaine Shpungin, he now supports schools, organizations, and workplaces in developing restorative strategies for engaging conflict, building conflict facilitation skills and evaluating the outcomes associated with restorative responses via Conflict 180.
In addition to conflict and restorative (more...)
