Journal of Sociology and Social Work

When Racism is a Mental Disorder
Stephen M. Marson, Ph.D. & Paul Dovyak, MSW, LCSW

Abstract
There have been many conference presentations and published refereed journal articles addressing the possibility of “racism” being designated as a mental disorder. Most of these position papers, both pro and con, lack the systematic scrutiny demanded and embedded within the scientific method. In this paper, we systematically examine the literature on racism and connect that literature with the literature on the criteria that constitutes a mental disorder. If racism complies with the traditional accepted standards for the existence of a mental disorder, then racism can be included within the rankings of other mental disorders.

Full Text: PDF     DOI: 10.15640/jssw.v10n2a4