Cultural, racial and ethnic competence and psychiatric diagnosis

Abstract

The authors review the call for cultural competence in psychiatric diagnosis and highlight the barrier of ‘monocultural ethnocentrism’ ‐ the tendency to presume that European‐American standards fit all cultural, racial and ethnic groups. They suggest that clinicians should: familiarise themselves with the history of racism in psychiatry; avoid stereotyping; appreciate the diversity within cultural, racial and ethnic groups; understand that individuals from various cultural, racial and ethnic groups may have had more traumatic experiences; and understand that individuals from the US and UK may have experiences with racism, some of which may cause mental illness. Finally the authors suggest strategies to increase cultural competence.

Citation

Bell, C., Williamson, J. and Chien, P. (2008), "Cultural, racial and ethnic competence and psychiatric diagnosis", Ethnicity and Inequalities in Health and Social Care, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 34-41. https://doi.org/10.1108/17570980200800006