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VARIATIONS BETWEEN NEGROES AND WHITES IN CONCEPTS OF MENTAL ILLNESS AND ITS TREATMENT *
Author(s) -
Crawford Fred R.,
Rollins Glen W.,
Sutherland Robert L.
Publication year - 1960
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1960.tb39125.x
Subject(s) - foundation (evidence) , mental health , citation , annals , mental health service , library science , gerontology , psychology , sociology , medicine , political science , history , psychiatry , classics , law , computer science
In spite of the tremendous amount of work that has gone into the study of mental illness since World War 11, there are fewer than a score of available reports that discuss in any way the Southern Negro and mental illness. Such current information is not only rare, but in many instances it is contradictory. The theoretical approaches as well as the research procedures used in these few studies are so divergent that their conclusions can be compared only with considerable reservation. Nevertheless, in order to establish a tentative foundation for further investigation, it is necessary to consider and compare the conclusions that have been made. There are five major topics that appear as “conclusions” in one or more of the available studies: (1) The question of possible differences in the incidence rates of mental illness between white persons and Negroes has been raised more frequently than any other. On the basis of the studies made by Malzberg,” not only he but also Myrdall8 and Rose2] conclude that the Northern Negro has higher incidence rates than the Northern white but that these differences are not in any way associated with physiological characteristics.t The differences in incidence rates that have been presented in various studies are those indicated as related to cultural and demographic variations only. The conclusions drawn by writers since Malzberg’s study agree on this point but disagree on the question of which racial group has the higher incidence. The dominant trend of the current data (frequently based on first-admission rates and never on prevalence rates) suggests that generally the Southern Negro2 has a lower incidence rate than does the Southern white.$ (2) Although the incidence rates are held to be lower for Southern Negroes than for whites, the commitment rate of Negroes to Southern state mental hospitals is considerably higher than it is for the whites in this region.1.2*5.9*