PS/SO 340 - Psychology of Prejudice and Discrimination

This course centers on prejudice and discrimination experienced by diverse marginalized groups in Japan, including discrimination against gender and sexual minorities, ethnic minority groups (such as the Burakumin, Ainu, and Zainichi Koreans, immigrants), people with disabilities, and people with Hansen's disease.

The course moves beyond analyzing the psychological process of prejudice and discrimination. It focuses instead on how historical, political, institutional, legal, and sociocultural contexts shape societal attitudes and positions towards marginalized groups. This provides a contextualized understanding of the roots and manifestations of prejudice and discrimination and the resulting social inequality. The course will also question whether the Western-centric understanding of racism, sexism, and stigmatization can be applied to non-Western societies and explore layers of inequality by employing intersectionality.