Mental Health, Racism And Sexism

In 1973, the co-editors of this book published their landmark volume, Racism and Mental Health, opening with the warning: "Racism is tearing this country asunder". This volume caused a stir in the US as the authors tackled the 'sensitive' issues without compromise. While much has changed in the US and Europe in the intervening two decades as the final vestiges of legal discrimination have been dismantled, the warning issued in 1973 still holds. These same distinguished editors, joined now by Patricia Perri Rieker, re-examined the intersections of racism and mental health, adding sexism as another divisive issue that profoundly affects mental health. The essays offer fresh perspectives on some of the most controversial issues in today's news: interracial adoptions, teenage motherhood, gender bias in mental health diagnosis and therapy, prisons used as substitutes for hospitals, homeless families and increasing violence in the home and on the streets.