Assignment: Aversive Racism and Inequality in Health Care
Aversive racism is a subtle and indirect type of racism that can contribute to unequal treatment in a variety of settings and situations including, but not limited to, health care access for minority racial and ethnic groups. Individuals who engage in aversive racism say they support the principle of racial equality and do not believe they are prejudiced. However, they also possess subconscious negative feelings and beliefs about specific racial and/or ethnic groups. Aversive racism often results in a majority group's failure to help a minority group, even though they do not intentionally cause harm. Aversive racism may be a contributing factor to poor quality health care for some minorities.
To prepare for this Assignment:
- Review the Section III, "Framework Essay," and Reading 31 in the course text. Pay particular attention to aversive racism and health care access.
- Review the article, "Psychiatrists' Attitudes Toward and Awareness About Racial Disparities in Mental Health Care," and focus on methods for reducing aversive racism.
- Take the Race Implicit Bias test at the Project Implicit website.
- Identify two examples of racial or ethnic inequality in health care in the United States.
- Think about how aversive racism contributes to the examples that you identified.
- Consider methods for reducing aversive racism in your examples.
The Assignment (3-4 pages):
- Describe two examples of racial or ethnic inequality in health care in the United States.
- Explain how aversive racism contributes to the inequality illustrated in the examples (and thus in health care) you described.
- Explain methods for reducing aversive racism in your examples. Be specific and provide examples to support your explanation.
- Discuss how implicit bias might impact health care in the United States.
Support your Assignment with specific references to all resources used in its preparation.