Exam 15: Section 1: Predicting Violent Behavior: the Psychology of Risk Assessment

Correct Answer:

Verified

Main points:
• Psychological injury may involve emotional distress, trouble sleeping, and be severe enough to meet the standards for PTSD.
• However, the Supreme Court ruled in the Harris v. Forklift Systems case that there is no need to prove psychological injury in sexual harassment cases; it is only necessary to prove that the work environment is hostile and offensive, according to a reasonable person standard.
• In the Oncale case, the Supreme Court further clarified that the sexual harassment standard is gender neutral.
Optional point:
• The Supreme Court instructed lower courts to apply a totality of circumstances test to gauge whether the work environment was unlawfully hostile. The responsibility is placed on the employers to prevent and correct harassment.

Correct Answer:

Verified

Main points:
• Studies show that the modern forms of racism are more subtle and harder to detect than overt, explicit racism of the old times.
• Experiments related to hiring found that White candidates were given preference in situations where credentials of White and Black candidates were similar. Some other studies also showed that hiring managers were more awkward and uncomfortable interviewing Black candidates, which in turn, made the candidates more uncomfortable.
• Studies also show that people subconsciously tend to have more negative views of and reactions to Black people, even if the subjects do not realize this prejudice in themselves.
• All these subtler forms of racism detected in research studies are practically impossible to regulate by law. They make the lives of Black people in the United States much harder than those of Whites.

Correct Answer:

Verified

Main points:
The following actions can help prevent or reduce prejudice, as indicated by research:
• equal-status contact between groups (where one group is NOT in the disadvantaged or lower position),
• one-on-one interactions between members of the groups,
• cooperation between members of the two groups in working towards superordinate goals, and
• social norms must favor intergroup contact and equal treatment.