Racism and Mental Illness in the UK

There is substantial evidence of differential outcomes for different racial and ethnic groups in many health, social and economic arenas in the United Kingdom today, ranging from dis‐ ease prevalence and outcome, hiring and promotion in the labour workforce, to loan appro‐ vals in mortgage lending, to rate of arrest and detention in the criminal justice system. These disparities – and others – describe social conditions that most Britons believe deserve some measure of attention. To understand such conditions and to fashion appropriate responses, it is important to assess whether and how racism and racial discrimination, along with other factors, may contribute to observed disparities in mental health outcomes among racial and ethnic groups.