Major social institutions and their functions

Race or Gender Disparity in Social Institutions

There are several laws, practices and customs that systematically reflect and produce race and gender inequalities both intentionally and unintentionally. This is what is referred to as institutional racism or sexism. People within some institutions come up with guidelines, rules, procedures or standards which bring about a racist or sexist effect. The paper will look at the role institutions play when it comes to social status arrangements. It will highlight on an example of gender and race disparities occurring in institutions.

There is a policy in public schools known as zero tolerance which can be defined as a policy that allows predetermined consequences or punishment for particular offenses regardless of the age of student, their disciplinary history, or circumstances.in fact the courts are in full support of zero-tolerance which is reasonable policies which are in place to improve the safety in schools. This policy has been successful as most public schools have been able to reduce the rates on indiscipline in schools. The ugly part of this policy is the fact that ethnic racial differences exist in percentages of students particularly .students of color end up being given more severe punishments even for less serious mistakes. In fact, students of color are more likely to be suspended as compared to white students.at the systematic level; it is a common occurrence in schools that have a large population of students of color to rely on exclusionary discipline compared to schools that are predominantly white. This implies that there is unequal use of the policy on an individual level. Due to the existence of some unconscious biases, systematic racism and discriminatory treatment the zero tolerance policy which is an already unjust system devastates educational opportunities especially to students of color. Leaders in schools are obliged to keep schools safe at the same time they also have an ethical obligation to ensure that they examine the repercussions of their actions. When necessary they should amend the policy and practices not only for school safety but also protection of students from the application of the policy which is capricious (David, 2004).

Institutional racism can also have an influence on making decisions and lead to a pattern of discrimination in the major social institutions. For instance race has a profound influence when it comes to the outcomes of child welfare. Children are put in foster homes due to neglect .Each point of making a decision is under the influence of perceptions, intuition and interpretation. The decision making process by social workers or judges like the determination of the minimum level of care that is acceptable is quite susceptible to bias.it is more likely that youth of color to be treated in a negative way compared to their white counterparts. Most people like to think of themselves as colorblind and even acknowledge that they do not notice race. The fact of the matter is that racial stereotypes are still in existence and have become a backdrop when it comes to making decisions of child well-being.