Liam Clarke

Cultural diversity, mental health and psychiatry: the struggle against racism Fernando Suman Cultural diversity, mental health and psychiatry: the struggle against racism Brunner-Routledge Edition: First 265£17.9915839125331583912533

This well-written book by an accepted original thinker and expert in the field of transcultural psychiatry adds considerably to the current debate about the links between mental health, psychiatry, cultural diversity and racism. It also further develops some of the themes raised in his previous book. Fernando’s view that racism has been resistant to all efforts to reduce its power in the practice of psychiatry is a recurring theme, familiar to clinicians as well. He maintains that racism and psychiatric stigma have blended together to exercise power that is particularly felt by Black people. Psychiatrists then get caught up, as mental health services are often the vehicle for this. Users certainly believe this to be widely prevalent. The author then outlines some areas in which change is possible. He suggests that multicultural psychiatrists need to work even more closely with multicultural mental health services, as this approach offers the prospect of excellent care through good working practices. His belief that mental health practitioners should see people as people, and not as carriers of illness or ill health, is clearly developed as this is essential for quality care and is not to be compromised. Cultural backgrounds must be taken into account for this to work well. Fernando believes that involvement of users of services and carers will ensure that past mistakes are not repeated. There can be little disagreement with this view. This carefully crafted text is highly recommended for all psychiatrists, whether they work with people from different cultural backgrounds or not, as the issues raised are clearly broadly applicable. It will also appeal to other professionals, users, carers and service providers concerned about the thinking that needs to be in place if services are to be appropriate and relevant. There is no doubt that this book is an important addition to the ongoing work related to transcultural psychiatry.