Main Issues in Mental Health and Race

This title was first published in 2003. This work arose out of the editors’ concerns at the British preoccupation with an alleged epidemic of schizophrenia in people of African descent. Black people in contact with psychiatric services are commonly classed as schizophrenic or normal and do not seem to attract any of the diagnoses or interventions which their white counterparts do. The editors asked contributors to carry out a critical broad-based review of a particular area using the technology that has been developed for conducting systematic literature reviews. The areas explored were selected by the editors from their own understanding of disciplines which might have something to contribute. They were largely disciplines which have an interest in beliefs, feelings, emotions, thought, politics, language and decision-making. In some areas there was little material available from literature searches so the reviewers used their own understanding of the subject matter rather than existing literature to write critical essays.