2006+QA

Question 7 — Equality and Difference (20 marks)  a) Define the concepts of //prejudice //and //discrimination //, and evaluate how historical, political and legal forces contribute to prejudice and discrimination in Australian society.

Better responses consistently integrated appropriate equality and difference concepts and relevant examples. Candidates were also able to draw upon wider syllabus related themes to support their assessment and explanation. Better responses also featured effective consideration of the rubric. (a) The majority of responses used Indigenous Australians as their focus. Other responses focused on social groups determined by gender, religion and belief systems, disability, ethnicity and sexuality. Better responses clearly stated the meanings of ‘prejudice’ and ‘discrimination’ and demonstrated a clear understanding of their roles in Australian society. They included sound judgements about the extent to which historical, political and legal forces contributed to social inequality in Australian society and supported their judgements with relevant examples, citing accurate and current statistical data. These responses demonstrated a sophisticated understanding of the relevant course concepts, which were effectively integrated and made evident the nature of equality and difference. The best responses were able to effectively draw out the complex relationships between historical, political and legal forces and the extent to which prejudice and discrimination in Australian society have been perpetuated or reduced. Weaker responses could not define prejudice and discrimination and tended not to differentiate between them. These responses tended to provide a limited outline of the way in which historical, political and/or legal forces contributed to prejudice and discrimination in Australian society. They relied mainly on generalized historical descriptions of prejudice and discrimination in relation to social groups, particularly Indigenous Australians. Weaker responses simply described limited examples of inequality and/or its impact and/or consequences in a simplistic way, using few or no relevant course concepts.
 * Question 7: Equality and Difference **