Racism and Psychiatry

This book addresses the unique sociocultural and historical systems of oppression that have alienated African-American and other racial minority patients within the mental healthcare system.  This text aims to build a novel didactic curriculum addressing racism, justice, and community mental health as these challenges present in clinical practice.  Unlike any other resource, this guide moves beyond an exploration of the problem of racism and its detrimental effects, to a practical, solution-oriented discussion of how to understand and approach the mental health consequences with a lens and sensitivity for contemporary justice issues. After establishing the historical context, the text boldly examines the contemporary issues, including clinical biases in diagnosis and treatment, oppression through the psychodynamic perspectives, and challenges presented by racial discrimination.  The text concludes with chapters covering training and medical education within this sphere, policies for changing institutional values in mental healthcare, and strategies for breaking systems of oppression in clinical practice.

Written by experts in cultural psychiatry, Racism and Psychiatry is the only current tool for psychiatrists, psychologists, administrators, educations, medical students, social workers, and all clinicians working to treat patients struggling with issues of racism at the point of mental healthcare.