Bias in Mental Health Assessment and Intervention: Theory and Evidence
Lonnie R. Snowden, PhD
The author is with the School of Social Welfare, University of California, Berkeley.
Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Lonnie R. Snowden, PhD, University of California, 120 Haviland Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720-7400 (e-mail: snowden{at}uclink4.berkeley.edu).
ABSTRACT
A recent surgeon generals report and various studiesdocument racial and ethnic disparities in mental health care,including gaps in access, questionable diagnostic practices,and limited provision of optimum treatments. Bias is a littlestudied but viable explanation for these disparities.
It is important to isolate bias from other barriers to high-qualitymental health care and to understand bias at several levels(practitioner, practice network or program, and community).More research is needed that directly evaluates the contributionof particular forms of bias to disparities in the area of mentalhealth care.
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