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ABSTRACT
This paper provides an overview of United States-based research on the ways in which racism can affect mental health. It describes changes in racial attitudes over time, the persistence of negative racial stereotypes and the ways in which negative beliefs were incorporated into societal policies and institutions. It then reviews the available scientific evidence that suggests that racism can adversely affect mental health status in at least three ways. First, racism in societal institutions can lead to truncated socioeconomic mobility, differential access to desirable resources, and poor living conditions that can adversely affect mental health. Second, experiences of discrimination can induce physiological and psychological reactions that can lead to adverse changes in mental health status. Third, in race-conscious societies, the acceptance of negative cultural stereotypes can lead to unfavorable self-evaluations that have deleterious effects on psychological well-being. Research directions are outlined.
Keywords: race, racism, stress, discrimination, mental health, ethnicity.
INTRODUCTION
A growing number of researchers has argued that racism is a pervasive, adverse influence on the health of racial and ethnic minority populations in the United States.1-8 This paper reviews the extant literature on direct and indirect influences of racism on the mental health of African Americans or blacks. It first reviews evidence for the complex nature of racial attitudes including the persistence of negative images of blacks by many whites. Second, it outlines the multiple pathways by which racism can affect mental health. Three primary mechanisms are identified. First, institutional discrimination can restrict socioeconomic mobility. This has led to racial differences in socioeconomic status (SES) and exposure to poor living conditions that can adversely affect mental health. Second, experiences of discrimination are a source of stress that can adversely affect mental health. Finally, the acceptance of the stigma of inferiority on the part of some minority group members can lead to impaired psychological functioning.
THE COMPLEXITY OF RACIAL ATTITUDES IN THE UNITED STATES
We use the term racism to refer to an organized system that leads to the subjugation of some human population groups relative to others. Fundamental to the development of such a system is an ideology of inferiority in which human population groups are categorized and ranked with some being inferior to others. This often leads to the...