Psychic damage is a concept used in the field of

social psychology Social psychology is the methodical study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. Although studying many of the same substantive topics as its counterpart in the field ...

to describe the negative effects of

stereotypes In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalization, generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can ...

on individual members of

stigmatized Stigma, originally referring to the visible marking of people considered inferior, has evolved to mean a negative perception or sense of disapproval that a society places on a group or individual based on certain characteristics such as their ...

groups. This definition of "psychic damage" was used by U.S. historian Daryl Scott to describe the effects of stereotyping on

African-Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

in his 1997 book ''Contempt and Pity: Social Policy and the Image of the Damaged Black Psyche, 1880–1996'', which won the

Organization of American Historians The Organization of American Historians (OAH), formerly known as the Mississippi Valley Historical Association, is the largest professional society dedicated to the teaching and study of American history. OAH's members in the U.S. and abroad incl ...

' James A. Rawley Prize for the year's best work in

race relations Race relations is a sociological concept that emerged in Chicago in connection with the work of sociologist Robert E. Park and the Chicago race riot of 1919. Race relations designates a paradigm or field in sociology and a legal concept in th ...

. In his book '' Whistling Vivaldi: How Stereotypes Affect Us and What We Can Do,'' U.S. social psychologist Claude Steele wrote that the psyches of individual African-Americans gets damaged "by bad images of the group projected in society -- images of blacks as aggressive, as less intelligent, and so on." Repeated exposure to these images, he wrote, is

internalized Internalization may refer to: *Internalization (sociology) *Internalization (psychology) **Internalizing disorder *Internalization (biology) *Internalization theory **Internalization (economics) In economics, an externality is an indirect cost ...

by members of the stigmatized group, which damages their character by causing low self-esteem, low expectations, low motivation and self-doubt, and contributes to societal problems such as high

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is the proportion of people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work du ...

, poor marriage success, low educational achievement and

criminality In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Cane ...

. Initially the concept of psychic damage was used to describe the effects of stigmatization on African-Americans, but the concept has also been applied to other stigmatized groups, such as Native Americans,

Latino people Latino or Latinos may refer to: People Demographics * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States ** Hispanic and Latino (ethnic categori ...

and women.

References

{{Reflist Social psychology Stereotypes Social stigma