Racism and Psychiatry
White racism has influenced theory and practice in psychiatry and allied fields. Psychiatrists have largely ignored the interactionist approach, as expounded by Sullivan and Rush, in analyzing Negroes within their respective societies. Rather, in the vein of Freudian preoccupation with unconscious motivation, abnormal behavior and what is considered innate individual differences, psychiatrists have arrived at broad generalizations of individual and group behavior based on past histories and present conditions of mentally disturbed, maladaptive patients. Psychiatrists have drawn upon theories of genetic, physiological, and psychological determinism to reinforce the myth of black inferiority. The mental health professions must reexamine the impact of racist thinking, past and present, on the disciplines dealing with human behavior--especially psychiatry. They must do some basic rethinking in areas such as recruitment and training of black psychiatrists, the referral procedure of white psychiatrists, research, and upgrading of patient services in the black community. (Author/SB)
Book, 1972
Brunner/Mazel, Inc., 64 University Place, New York, N.Y. 10003 ($7.50), 1972