Discussion j

Discussion Posts Need to Be:   

• Substantive and thoughtful; that is, discussion posts must refer to a topic from the week's readings.  All discussion posts must be supported by current journal article(s) found in SFC Online Library Database system.  Discussion posts should draw from the information found in this week’s course materials, from personal experience, and from credible sources (peer-reviewed journal articles and sites provided by your professor).  


• All information gained, read, or acquired from any source that is not your personal information must be cited throughout the document otherwise it is plagiarism.  All information must be cited in the body of the document AND full-reference text at the end of the document using APA style & format criteria.  


• APA style & format criteria:  


• Peer-reviewed journal articles from SFC Online Library Database System  


• Current: January 2015 – Current month 2020  


• PDF available  


• Times New Roman font  


• 12-point font  


• Black ink  


• Single spaced work for DISC and RESP assignments only (to save space)  


• In-text citations appear throughout work  


• Full-text references appear at bottom of work  


• The discussion post should be three (3) well-developed paragraphs in length (about 7-9 fully developed sentences each; adhere to APA style & format including in-text and full-text reference citations).    


• If your professor and/or fellow classmate(s) asked you a question, to follow up, or further explain a point, you are required to do so in addition to your two main responses.  Failure to timely respond by Sunday of each week (to follow up questions) will result in reduction of points; 1 point for each entry not addressed.    

The main discussion post is due by Day 3 (Wednesday of each week).  Please click on “REPLY” from the main discussion post instructions to submit your assignment.  

Credible sources relevant to this course are (this is only a PARTIAL list): 

Santa Fe College Library Database system (https://sfcollege.libguides.com/az.php (Links to an external site.)) 

American Psychological Association (www.apa.org (Links to an external site.)) 

Society for Personality and Social Psychology (https://www.apa.org/about/division/div8 (Links to an external site.)) 

American Psychiatric Association (www.psychiatry.org (Links to an external site.) or www.psychiatryonline.org (Links to an external site.)) 

National Institutes of Health (www.nih.org (Links to an external site.)) 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (www.cdc.org (Links to an external site.)) 

World Health Organization: WHO (www.who.int (Links to an external site.)) 

REMEMBER: YouTube, Social Media, Wikipedia, etc. are NOT credible sources. 

Examples of topics to write about

(Choose only one topic from the examples below OR choose a topic of your interest that pertains to this week's material): 

Modern Prejudice  

Before we conclude that problems with prejudice are all but solved, we must keep a few important points in mind. First, yes, segregation is against the law. But how desegregated are we as a society? Ask students to think back to high school. Did black students sit mainly in one part of the cafeteria, whites in another, Hispanics in another, and Asians in yet another? Did they attend a school or live in an area that was ethnically diverse? In an area that had very little diversity?  If people are still clustering by race and ethnicity, we might wonder whether biases still exist that shape our preferences in whom to approach and whom to avoid. Discuss why people tend to congregate with others who are similar and come up with strategies that would re-categorize these groups under the same umbrella.  

Stereotypes  

How do they work? How do people form impressions of others? Are they correct? If you see a man in a jacket, collared shirt, and neatly trimmed, you may think that he’s a young, attractive, professional man. This is a categorization based on age, appearance, perceived educational level, and gender. From this, relevant stereotypes are activated—intelligent, competent, well-liked. Because there is no reason not to, people will probably be happy to apply these judgments to him. Knowing your first impression of this person, how would you cope with finding out that this man is stalking victims, taking advantage of them (could be financially, psychologically, physically, etc.), and showing no remorse for his behavior when detained by the police? If stereotypes can be wrong, why do we categorize people? 

Death and Prejudice 

Discuss how reminders of death can increase prejudice against the outgroup. When people are reminded of their death, they want to reinforce their worldview, which includes their beliefs and values. Notions of death cause anxiety, and this anxiety can be decreased by believing that your worldview is the correct one. Associating with the outgroup can increase anxiety and decrease self-esteem, because it is not reinforcing our world view. 

Make sure you find credible journal articles in our SFC Online Library Database system to support your work, regardless of what you decide to write about.