Racial Discrimination And Its Effects On Mental Health And Crime Rate

 Topic- Racial Discrimination And Its Effects On Mental Health And Crime Rate

“The toxins of racism that runs through the veins of society has yet to find an antidote. Racism cantraumatize, hurt, humiliate, enrage, confuse and ultimately prevent optimal growth and functioning of individuals and communities” (Harrell 2000: 42). Racial discrimination is an ideology that has persisted in the society where there is a prejudice or bias that some races are naturally superior to others. Such convictions mostly existed with regards to African – Americans and European-Americans (chiefly black and white respectively). This article argues that interpersonal racialdiscrimination i.e, discrimination practiced on an individual level like at school or workplace, in actions like social exclusion, unfair treatment and / or threat harassment can have a very strong impact on an individual’s life. It can prompt negative perception of society and relationships, hostile behaviour , deviance from conventional norms and various emotional well- being issues .This builds the odds of law infringement and culpable. Studies have demonstrated that how delinquency and discrimination share a nearby affiliation and are interceded by the feelings of anger and depression. There has been considerable evidence that African – Americans especially males indulge in more street crimes than white do.

The idea of “race” came into existence to amplify the contrast between the individuals from European origin to African origin as their ancestors were brought to America with the end goal of slavery. The African -Americans were portrayed as individuals belonging to a lower race because of their skin colour and were considered to have lower status in the society and subsequently the advocates of slavery used this to justify and support the abuse that was done to African-Americans.  In popular opinion, the idea of race was believed to have biological basis where the physical differences were predominant. Hence, the black colour was considered to be of lower status and therefore they faced discrimination.  The racism was challenged in 1950s - 60s after the civil rights movement. However, in spite of the lawful and protected measures racism kept on prospering at a smaller level.  Laws were made to annihilate the institutional racism however, the stereotypes were preserved in the psyches of individuals. Racial segregation was practiced where they were asked to live in distinct communities and should have different institutions such as hospitals, churches and schools. They were ascribed low paid jobs and there was income inequality that has further affected their economic well -being. This social and monetary impediment faced by the people of colour has pushed them further into poverty. They were denied equivalent opportunities in all aspects of life.

Even nowadays, The practice of racism is very much pervasive in the everyday and micro level interactions. Idea of “racialmicroaggression” was proposed by Chester Pierce. This term points out to the subtle ways of sending humiliating and degrading messages to the people of colour. The key factor in this concept is that people who are there sending these messages are unaware of it and thus do not acknowledge the fact that they are being offensive. On the other hand, recipient of these messages have a huge impact on their mental health, work performance, academics, nature of social relationships and even therapy for that matter. A ton of times whites who have strong tendency towards egalitarian standards and equity will in general practice it unwittingly. racial microaggression has been categorized in three structures according to American psychological association first,micro assaults, where there are conscious and purposeful actions for example-: a  taxi driver would not stop for a black passenger instead would take a white for the ride. Second, micro insults; where there are subtle and trivial demeaning and disrespectful messages that might hurt the racial identity of a person. Like for example a black student who has done well in exams was asked that if he has cheated because  the blacks are assumed to be less intelligent than whites and third, micro invalidations; where the person is excluded or treated as an outsider for example Asian -Americans were often asked how would they communicate in English so well ? And often the result of these micro aggression is the feeling of Invisibilitysyndrome which is a psychological experience wherein the individual character or abilities of an individual are overshadowed because of the existing prejudice. It places the individuals self -esteem into question. The individual’s worth is unrecognized or ignored in the bunch of relational conditions.

 

 “Men and women of all races are born with same range of abilities. But ability is not just the product of birth. Ability is stretched and stunted by the family that you live with, and the neighbourhood you live in, the school you go to and the poverty and richness of your surroundings. It is the product of hundred unseen forces playing upon the little infant, child and finally the man”.    (President Lyndon B Johnson,1965). Racial segregation is usually followed by economic segregation as race and economic resources have a strong correlation. Since, poor individuals are more likely to commit a crime it explains the fact that there is greater percentage of crimes committed in black neighbourhoods. Researches have been conducted where it has been found that with greater segregation there is a greater chance of committing an offence especially violence related crimes. It does not just affect the adults but has a considerable impact on children as well. The characteristics of the neighbourhood you live in play an important role in any child's personal development.  Studying in segregated schools acts as an extra barrier to their achievement. The living arrangements are strongly related with school arrangements. Hence disadvantaged black children from high poverty neighbourhood generally go to the segregated schools as segregation isolates the people of colour from the rest of society, it denies them opportunity to prosper themselves financially and it also affects their overall development and well -being.

Interpersonal racial discrimination puts forth various challenges for the people and their families. About 98% of the blacks have reported that they have faced some kind of maltreatment or their actions were misunderstood or they were looked with suspicion because they belong to a particular race. These kind of encounters can be humiliating and mortifying and can pose a lot of stress and anxiety. As children grow into early adolescence they start to identify with their ethnic identities. However, these discriminatory experiences andconstantly receiving demeaning messages from the society can take a toll on their mental health. African- American youth who have such discriminatory experiences have the risk of developing conduct disorder and depressive symptoms such as fatigue, irritability and can indulge in problematic behaviour owing to anger and other forms of negative emotions.ErikErikson built up a psychosocial model of ego development where he discusses the role of the interaction between the person and environment and culture and society in identity formation.  Identityversusroleconfusion is the fifth stage in his theory which begins at early adolescence around the age of 12 - 14 years where, the child explores the sense of self and identity which is influenced by his social interactions. He seeks to discover his role and how well he fits in the society. According to Erik Erikson,this is a very significant stage as it helps in building a solid character and will give a sense of direction so, when the child experiences racial discrimination fundamentally in school or in other social settings or observes the conduct of people towards their folks it caninfluence their sense of self and identity as blacks in a negative manner. Thoits (1991) believed that these experiences act as stressors and can attack the chief part of individual identity and likely to degrade the mental health and emotional well- being. The degradation of mental health often increases the chances of delinquency. Many times blacks are stereotyped as threatening and deceitful and they are seen with a suspicion in the general public or they are labelled as "dangerous or as criminals. Thelabellingtheory recommends that people start to behave and recognize themselves as the society labels them. it is a crime theory that elaborates on how labelling of a person as a"criminal" can propel delinquent behaviour than stop it as the person start internalizing those labels and starts reflecting on them. Researches have been conducted where they have found that effect of informal / official labelling on delinquency is encountered by blacks more than white. Once, they are labelled as deviant they are stigmatized and they struggle to find appropriate employment for themselves which in turn expands the odds of committing crime.Education is a very important component to succeed and excel in life. But policies like school to prison pipeline denies the opportunity of education to African- American in multiple ways.  SchooltoPrisonPipelineis an educational disciplinary policy followed in the American public schools where the children specifically the children of colour are pushed from pubic school to criminal justice system through ‘zero tolerance policies’. There is criminalization of ordinary youth conductwhere, very minor offences are contemplated and they are put into jails such as arguing with the teacher which leaves a permanent scar on their lives. It is also claimed that it is institutional racism where the blacks are excluded from getting access to education and hinders their chances of having prosperous future.The increase percentage incarceration increase the likelihood of joblessness and crime records.

The link between racial discrimination and increased risk of offending has been elucidated by GeneralStrainTheory given by Robert Agnew which has been described under the stress framework. Interpersonal racial discrimination has the potential of producing various psychological and physiological effects. This theory suggests that the racial discrimination increases the level of despair and distress and crime is a way of coping with the negative emotions generated by the experience of it. This theory elaborates the role of anger and depression facilitating in the strain- offending link. Depression induces symptoms such as irritability and fatigue, it also increases self-indulgence and decreases empathy which in turn increases the likelihood of committing a crime.

 

To conclude, the world is getting modernized with every day passing by where we forsee life on mars, where there are new innovations coming up, where we talk about equality among different genders, races and people from different religion and at the same time the very recent case of George Flyod's a 46 year old black man who was pinned down by a white policemen compels us to scrutinize our ideals and values. It returns us to where we began it. We need to understand that as the world is developing we need to let our perceptions and opinions evolve. Practices like racial discrimination disrupts the peace and harmony of society. it brings suspicion and distrust among people. It affects the physical and mental well- being of minority groups and also increases crime in society.