Religion provides models of parts of the world, so does politics, so does tradition and mythology.
Stereotyping might be considered a BAD form of model building. Explanation is in terms of the way we think that the world is. So models generate explanations of what we see in terms of the way we think things are, even if we cannot see it all. The utility of a model lies in our ability to use it to cope better with the world. Prediction is critical here, in the sense that the model tells us what will happen under different circumstances.