APA Issues Apology for History of Racism Contributing to Discrimination, MH Care Inequities

The APA Board of Trustees today issued anapology for APA ’s history of racism and for “enabling discriminatory and prejudicial actions within APA and racist practices in psychiatric treatment for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC).” The statement of apology—addressed to members, patients, their families, and the public—is accompanied by adocumentoutlining specific practices and policies (including failures to speak out and protest racist practices) that have damaged BIPOC patients and their families dating to the time of the founding of APA.“The Board is issuing this document on Martin Luther King Jr. Day because we hope that it honors his life’s work of reconciliation and equality,” said APA President Jeffrey Geller, M.D., M.P.H., in a press statement. “We do not take that legacy or his call to action lightly.”In the statement, APA ’s trustees acknowledged that early psychiatric practices laid the groundwork for the inequities in clinical treatment that have historically limited access to quality psychiatric care for BIPOC.“These actions sadly connect with larger social issues, such as race-based discrimination and racial injustice, that have furthered poverty along with other adverse outcomes,” according to the statement. “Since APA’s inception, practitioners have at times subjected persons of African descent and Indigenous people who suffered from mental illness to abusive treatment, experimentation, victimization in the name of ...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: and People of Color APA APA's founders apology BIPOC black health care inequities Indigenous Jeffrey Geller racist practices in psychiatry Saul Levin structural racism Task Force on Structural Racism Source Type: research