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.
1. From Enlightenment to Eugenics: Empire, Race, and Medicine 1780-c1950, Trevor Turner and Susan Collinson. 2. Recovering the Obvious: Race and Mental Health, Valentine Y. Mudimbe. 3. Identity and Psychopathology, David Barker. 4. Cultural Studies, Ethnicity and Mental Health, Gargi Bhattacharyya and John Gabriel. 5 Religious Issues in Ethnic Minority Mental Health: Special Reference to Schizophrenia in Afro-Caribbeans in Britain: a Systematic Review, Kate Miriam Loewenthal and Marco Cinnirella. 6. Law and Mental Health: Some Implications for Ethnic Minorities in England. 7. Black Families, William Obomanu. 8. The Mental Hleath of British Afro-Caribbean Children and Adolescents, Tami Kramer and Matthew Hodes. 9. Mental Health Problems in Black Refugees, Ros Ramsay and C. Gorst-Unsworth. 10. Substance Abuse in Black People of African Descent, Zelpha Kittler. 11. Alcohol Use in Black People of African Descent, Vincent Kirschner.
Biography
David Ndegwa Dele Olajide
