MYP Individuals & Societies • Unit 2
The Psychology of Marginalization
How identity, perception, power and place interact to include some people while pushing others toward the edges of society.
Identity — Perspective — Power
Original AdornGeo sequence
Unit learning
Introduction to Marginalization
Key Terms
Introduction to Marginalization
Begin with the first heading preserved by the original AdornGeo page. Marginalization is explored as a process, not a label: people can be pushed away from power, participation, services and opportunity through social attitudes, formal rules and unequal systems. Students build a definition, identify who holds power, and distinguish exclusion from simple difference.
Marginalization: definition and examples
A Class Divided — FRONTLINE documentary
Key Terms
Restore the second surviving heading as a working vocabulary lesson. Students distinguish prejudice (attitude), stereotype (generalized belief), discrimination (action), marginalization (process), social exclusion (outcome), privilege (unearned advantage), stigma, power, identity and intersectionality. They apply each term to a short scenario rather than memorizing definitions in isolation.
We all have implicit biases. So what can we do about it?
How to check your unconscious bias — Dr Jennifer Eberhardt
Identity, Belonging & Social Categorization
Move from vocabulary to psychology. Students construct an identity wheel, separating chosen, inherited and assigned identities. They then examine in-groups, out-groups and belonging: when does categorization help people make sense of society, and when does it create an ‘us and them’ boundary? Use evidence from the documentary rather than assuming every group experience is the same.
Social Identity and Social Interaction
Intersectionality: When Identities Overlap
Avoid studying gender, ethnicity, class, disability or migration status as separate boxes. Intersectionality asks how overlapping identities can produce distinct experiences of power and exclusion. Students annotate Kimberlé Crenshaw’s examples, then test the concept with a local or regional scenario while avoiding claims they cannot support with evidence.
The urgency of intersectionality — Kimberlé Crenshaw
From Personal Bias to Structural Exclusion
Connect individual psychology to institutions and geography. A biased decision can be personal, but exclusion also becomes structural when rules, datasets, buildings, transport networks or algorithms repeatedly disadvantage particular groups. Students trace one barrier across scale: individual experience, institution, neighbourhood, state and global system.
How I’m fighting bias in algorithms — Joy Buolamwini
We need to talk about an injustice — Bryan Stevenson
Case Study: Rohingya Statelessness & Exclusion
Apply the unit lens to a named Southeast Asian case. Students map Rakhine State, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Cox’s Bazar, then build a causal chain linking citizenship, freedom of movement, access to education and health, forced displacement and the psychological effects of prolonged uncertainty. Evidence must distinguish current conditions, historical causes and the voices of Rohingya people themselves.
The Rohingya Storytellers — UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award
Myanmar’s ethnic cleansing of Rohingya — Vox
Synthesis & Action
Complete the inquiry by comparing cases rather than ranking suffering. Students select one exclusion process, identify stakeholders and evaluate a response using effectiveness, equity and voice. The final product should connect psychology to place: how do identity and perception interact with laws, institutions and spatial barriers, and what would meaningful inclusion change?