Imagine a horrible monster with sharp fangs, dripping wounds covering his face, and wearing a shirt that suggests his favorite pastime is eating humans. These clues suggest that this beast is not the safest being there is. This judgment could save a person's life simply by using context clues. Every day, stereotypes and adaptations to certain profiles occur, and are used to stop drug trafficking, theft and other basic crimes. It is also used to group people together to better understand them as a whole and make sense of what is seen. One way to approach stereotypes is to compare them to looking at a movie poster. Assumptions are made based on the content of the poster, which helps people decide whether it is an action film or a romance. How the film is advertised determines people's initial reaction, in the same way that the way a person dresses and behaves can lead to being judged positively or negatively. Another key point is that stereotypes are just a way to gauge first impressions. Key phrase, first impression, the previously mentioned monster might be the sweetest, cuddliest beast in the world, but the way he dresses and decides to behave might cause him to miss out on many opportunities. What prevents the person from developing the relationship is how they interpret the personal stereotype they have created. “Stereotypes are generalizations about a group of people by which we attribute a defined set of characteristics to that group” (www.changingminds.org). In other words, stereotypes are how people categorize other humans based on the visible information displayed by the target and the correlation of the new information with already known experiences or data....... middle of paper ......es can be applied to determine one's current situation and how to deal with it. When applied to capturing criminals, racial profiling can help identify suspects and find culprits based on data and contextual clues. Stereotypes are a good tool for making sound judgments and should be used in a more positive way. Works Cited “Racial Profiling.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Internet. April 9, 2010. “Stereotype.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Internet. April 9, 2010. “Stereotypes.” Mindset Change and Persuasion - How we change what others think, believe, feel and do. Internet. April 9, 2010. “Stereotypes.” University of Colorado at Boulder. Internet. April 9. 2010. .