What does "discrimination" refer to?

Discrimination refers to the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people, often based on characteristics such as race, gender, age, or sexual orientation. This concept highlights the inequalities that individuals may face in various aspects of life due to systemic biases and societal attitudes. Discrimination can manifest in different forms, including but not limited to, employment practices, access to services, and social interactions.

Understanding discrimination is crucial in sociology because it allows us to examine the broader implications of unequal treatment on social structures and individual lives. While other options may reflect aspects of fairness or awareness, they do not encompass the essence of discrimination, which is fundamentally about unequal treatment and the consequences that arise from such inequity.