Effects of Stereotyping

Effects of Stereotyping Living in America we deal with a lot of diversity, especially those in the criminal justice field where situations caused by religion can lead to a problem. Stereotypes are ideas held by some individuals about members of particular groups, based solely on membership in that group. Stereotyping is one of the biggest problems that we deal with, particularly in law enforcement. Stereotype threat can result in a self-fulfilling insight whereby a person comes to resemble his or her reputation, living up or down to social expectations. Over the years there have been many allegations of police officers accused of going after individuals and accusing them of a crime based on the sole fact of what their religious beliefs might be. This has been going on for a long time; however in recent years, it has gotten worse. The main job of police officers is to uphold the law, not to break it. Although stereotyping is not against the law, police officers have taken an oath to protect all human beings, regardless of their race or religion and stereotyping based on religion should not take place. Just because an individual is of a certain race does not give us the right to stereotype them as a bad human being. Thus stereotyping one’s religious beliefs is wrong, and it goes against what America is all about, that everyone is equal. According to Fred Edmund Jandt (2003), the word “stereotype” was first used to show that judgments made about individuals on the origin of their racial background. Today the expression is more commonly used to pass on to events made on the basis of a groups association. Psychologists have attempted to give explanations of stereotyping as errors that our brains make in the judgment of other people that are related to those mistakes our brains make in the view of illustration illusions. According to one APA expert, “When information is blurred, the brain frequently reaches the incorrect conclusion” (Jandt, 2003, p.77).

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