ABSTRACT
Contrary to the view that ‘there has been little debate’ and ‘little inclination to address’ racism within mental health services, psychiatry is not complacent about these issues. Indeed, an impressive body of high quality research focuses explicitly on them. High rates of detention and adverse pathways to psychiatric care for ethnic minority patients have been confirmed in many UK studies: racism within psychiatry and racial stereotyping of such patients are the commonest explanations provided for this excess, with little evidence to substantiate or refute this claim. There are perfectly reasonable alternative explanations for why the rates and manner of admission vary between different ethnic groups. Construing racism as the main explanation for the excess of detentions among ethnic minorities adds little to the debate and prevents the search for real causes of these differences. The claim of institutional racism damages the profession and patients.
