Race and racism

Kurzban, R., Tooby, J., & Cosmides, L. (2001). Can race be erased? Coalitional
computation and social categorization. Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences, 98(26), 15387-15392.
Past research studies indicate that each individuals race is encoded through
computational processes, which are necessary and automatic. However, no conclusion was made
in this research finding (Kurzban, Tooby & Cosmides, 2001). This is because classifying people
by race results in discrimination. It also leads to the treating of people in different ways. Through
experimental analysis, Kurzban, Tooby & Cosmides (2001) confirmed that the issues concerning
race were unavoidable and will continue to exist among the human race. This was based on the
prediction that encoding using race is an end product of the cognitive machine that emerged to
measure coalition alliances. The research findings were that the participants encode the coalition
affiliations as part of individual representation. The subjects lower the degree to which others are
categorized by race and may stop the coalition affiliation cues to corresponding to race. Although
race is seen as a social alliance predictor, the exposure to another form of social world advocates
against the categorization by race (Kurzban, Tooby & Cosmides, 2001). Therefore, racism is an
eradicable and volatile construct that tends to persist when the people maintain it by aligning it
with the social alliance systems. Historically, intergroup conflict relied on the classification of
people into them versus us. The classification and its effect seem to persist when divisions
take place along the racial aspects. Generally speaking, the human cultures feature out-group
indifference and in-group indifferences (Kurzban, Tooby & Cosmides, 2001). Therefore, the act
of classifying individuals into two social groups triggers human beings to discriminate in favor
of the in-group and against the out-group in the allocation of resources and conduct analysis.

Smedley, A., & Smedley, B. D. (2005). Race as biology is fiction, racism as a social problem
is real: Anthropological and historical perspectives on the social construction of
race. American Psychologist, 60(1), 16-26. doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.60.1.16.
From the biological point of view, race is seen as a fiction. It is felt to be real if it is
assumed to be a social problem (Smedley & Smedley, 2005). Racial science evaluates the
differences in the human population in key areas such as education, wealth, and health as a result
of the biological based variations between the groups. The science field has for a long time been
engaged in the measurement and explanation of population differences and human variation. Past
research indicates that racial group differences with respect to intelligence tests portray genetic
differences in the ability of a group, which cannot be described by the variations in the
environmental living conditions or the socioeconomic variations (Smedley & Smedley, 2005).
This culminates in the conclusion that Africans are inferior to the Europeans. Consequently,
Africans attain low intellectual status compared to Asians. However, strong debate has erupted
because of the arguments leading to a new ground for the racial differences. This is because of
the continued research on the human genome (Smedley & Smedley, 2005). However, the debate
has failed to address the racial groups definition and if the groups are scientifically meaningful,
measurable, and discrete. Advancements in the human genome besides an in-depth
comprehension of biological behavior have accelerated the science on racism. For instance,
various disciplines such as anthropology and biology have projected that racial differences failed
as they are not measurable, scientifically meaningful, and discrete. However, these arguments
have failed to consider the history and origin of the concept of race (Smedley & Smedley, 2005).
History is important as it illustrates that race is a recent construct, which appeared after the
population from various parts of the world came into contact with each other. Therefore, the

article evaluated the origin of the concept of race, placing the modern analysis of the racial
differences in a historical and anthropological context.
McCallum, D. (2007). Informal powers and the removal of Aboriginal children:
Consequences for health and social order. International Journal of the Sociology of
Law, 35(1), 29-40.
The aboriginals still face high mortality and incarceration rates. This is because of
separating the Aboriginals from their community and family. The article has tackled this issue by
looking what the legal power forms in Victoria, besides evaluating the informal powers
functionality of the superintendents and administrators within the political framework
(McCallum, 2007). The protection of children is shocking because the daily reports indicate
rampant cases of child murder, abuse, death caused by starvation, and neglect. Despite the key
reports on the isolation of the Aboriginals from their communities and families, the current rate
of the indigenous children receiving care is seven times higher compared to the rate of nonindigenous children (McCallum, 2007). Similarly, this seems to take place in the West and the
policies of child protection in Australia have depended on the experiences from foreign countries
in order to deal with the demands on child protection services, including the states importance to
assume risk averseness on child abuse cost in the jurisdictions. The courts are trying to control
the load, and various states have tightened the regulations on child protection. In Victoria; for
example, the new has focused on family services instead of forensic orientation to the protection
of children (McCallum, 2007). However, the author compared the present and past European
modes of controlling the Australian indigenous populations by investigating only one area of the
administrative and legislative transformation.

Petchkovsky, L., & San Roque, C. (2002). Tjunguwiyanytja, attacks on linking: Forced
separation and its psychiatric sequelae in Australia' 'Stolen Generations'.
Transcultural Psychiatry, 39(3), 345-366. doi: 10.1177/136346150203900304.
The article emphasizes on the use of force to separate the children from their families,
communities, and the psychological impacts of the action. Interviews and a questionnaire were
used to analyze the impact of forceful separation (Petchkovsky & San Roque, 2002). The
interviewees remarks showed consistence with the modern comprehension of the disastrous
effect of trauma. The reports also indicated high distress levels as a result of forceful separation.
The indigenous Australia cultures value land, kinship networks, and myths. In addition, they
view them as key contributors to the psychological and emotional well-being (Petchkovsky &
San Roque, 2002). All the respondents felt that it was what they valued most such as land, which
had been affected by deculturation and removal process, leading to various problems faced by
the aboriginals. The choosing of the samples focused on the legal perspective, instead of the
epidemiological perspective, which resulted in generalized results. The study was biased in the
representation of distressed individuals (Petchkovsky & San Roque, 2002). The representations
would need a different selection criteria and large samples of non-separated and separated
individuals. The article also failed to consider suicide trials, dissociative issues, and
consciousness, which are relevant to the analysis of the development damage to self-process
(Petchkovsky & San Roque, 2002). In addition, none of the interviewees had had a manic
episode or alcohol abuse. Nevertheless, severe chronic distress trends appeared and were
consistent with post-traumatic stress disorder measurements.
Kwate, N. O. A., & Goodman, M. S. (2014, 9//). An empirical analysis of White privilege,
social position, and health. Social Science & Medicine, 116(0), 150-160.

Kwate & Goodman (2014) examined the relationship between health and white privilege.
However, the subjective instead of the objective social status was related to self-rated health. The
invitation of racism has an adverse impact on the health status of the whites. Under health, the
social position is important (Kwate & Goodman, 2014). Those with few resources and low
standing have low health compared to the individuals with higher standing in the social structure
and good social economic resources. In the US, race is another platform under which health is
classified. However, few studies have investigated the advantages of the privileges accorded to
the Whites. Kwate & Goodman (2014) examined how objective and subjective the social status
and inequality affected the well-being and health of the White residents who differed in terms of
prestige, ethnicity, race, and income. The results were happiness, self-rate health, and dental
health. This infers a conclusion that there was no relationship between residing in the
neighborhood and health, where individual elements are held constant. Secondly, there was an
objective relationship between the socioeconomic status of the substantive self-report and dental
health. However, subjective evaluations of the social position are associated. Similarly, the
residents residing in wealthy surroundings and who perceived that the black families were
welcomed registered good health compared to those who held that the black families were not
welcome (Kwate & Goodman, 2014). However, those who resided in the wealthy and diverse
neighborhoods were ranked worse when reporting that the black families were welcome. This is
a confirmation that white privilege and the relative social position interact to mold the health
results.
Stewart, T. L., Latu, I. M., Branscombe, N. R., Phillips, N. L., & Ted Denney, H. (2012).
White privilege awareness and efficacy to reduce racial inequality improve White

Americans' attitudes toward African Americans. Journal of Social Issues, 68(1), 1127.
Stewart et al. (2012) analyzed the white privilege awareness and the efficacy to minimize
race inequality between the white American students and the African American students. The two
experiments both of which were measured and manipulated were conducted on the efficacy to
lower inequality (Stewart et al., 2012). The increased white privilege awareness and high
efficacy independently improved the participants perceptions of the African Americans.
However; there is no critical impact on the perceptions of the White Americans. Theoretically,
the privileges touch on the frequency that whites view their racial groups members as
represented in power ranks. Therefore, the white privilege perspective formed the focus of the
research (Stewart et al., 2012). The increased White American college students awareness of the
ways in which they benefit from social advantages and how African American students are
affected by the lack of privilege led to the participants holding more positive perceptions towards
the African Americans. The research findings support the notion that acknowledging the
privileges suppresses the deserving of the whites superior results, calling for further analysis on
inequality that are more complicated to control (Stewart et al., 2012). There was also significant
progress in racial perceptions, which also improved. The white participants promised to be
effective in controlling particular race inequality manifestations. Although the research was
based on the US because it was anticipated that the advantages of privilege awareness and
efficacy beliefs on biasness minimization would be applicable to broad contexts (Stewart et al.,
2012). Alternatively, the impacts of white privilege and efficacy were more of additive instead of
interactive. Future research should examine the forms of efficacy that are likely to improve
intergroup attitudes and enhance antidiscrimination.

Topic 4 The effects of racism in the migrant community

Nairn, R., Pega, F., McCreanor, T., Rankine, J., & Barnes, A. (2006). Media, racism, and
public health psychology. Journal of Health Psychology, 11(2), 183-196. doi:
10.1177/1359105306061179.
The bad health faced by the indigenous people, ethnic minorities and the migrants are
due to racism. Racism lowers ones health status and negatively affects the psychological and
physical health. Racial discrimination occurs at the societal, personal, and institutional levels
(Nairn et al., 2006). Heart diseases, depression, and stress occur as a result of racism. Although
mass communication expands the knowledge and world understanding, media is blamed for
racism, and it has contributed to discrimination, especially among the cultural and ethnic groups
that perceive them as threats to the dominating group. Media reports from these groups are often
stereotypical and negative. Therefore, the article addresses media presentations of the Maori and
the contributions the media makes in the ongoing colonialism processes (Nairn et al., 2006).
Nairn et al. (2006) describe how media through the acceptance of colonial relationships and
handling of the colonial practices as an obvious thing that discriminates the Maori.
Consequently, this group is treated as foreigners in their lands. The systematic and detailed study
is important if the media effect on the Maori health and well-being is to be eliminated (Nairn et
al., 2006). While health psychology has not considered this part, Nairn et al. (2006) raises the
need for crucial research into public health psychology. The community psychologists have
raised the importance of public health psychology and the discipline frameworks mark a
foundation of moving the discipline from individual pathology roots to a functional focus on the
functionality that the social and physical environments play in generating and maintaining good
health.

Yakushko, O. (2009). Xenophobia: Understanding the roots and consequences of negative

attitudes toward immigrants. The Counseling Psychologist, 37(1), 36-66. doi:
10.1177/0011000008316034.
Yakushko (2009) examined the origin and impacts of the negative perceptions of the
immigrants. Xenophobia is a social issue. The xenophobia expressions are investigated and
compared to the cross-cultural norm on the negative perception of the immigrants. Yakushko
(2009) used the migrants example situated in the U.S., who are exposed to poor work conditions.
Media has shown how the immigrants face discrimination. The prejudice on discrimination
exists; however, it is not acknowledged as being connected to the attitudes set based on
xenophobia. The immigrants are associated with overpopulation, deteriorating the economy,
violence, pollution, terrorism, and cultural values erosion (Yakushko, 2009). They are also seen
as uneducated, hostile, criminals, and poor. As a result, social psychologists focused on this area.
Their research has mainly addressed the roots and attributes of prejudice with an emphasis on the
negative attitudes toward the immigrants. Few studies have considered the adverse effect of
xenophobia or prejudice, such as psychological prejudice meanings towards the immigrants.
Counseling psychology has played a role in the evaluation of multicultural psychology and
multiculturalism effect. Even though the focus on immigrants who are ethnic and racial
minorities has existed in counseling, less research has been familiarly coming out to influence
the recent activities and attitudes that concern immigration and host communitys attitudes on
relocating individuals (Yakushko, 2009). Counseling psychology can support the oppressed
groups good health status because of their great concern for the immigrants. Although
differences exist between the various immigrant groups with regard to relocation issues such as
the refugees status or undocumented workers, this article outlines the immigrants experiences of

the negative perception of the host community towards them (Yakushko, 2009). In addition, both
the academic and legal terms tend to address all the people who relocate to the U.S. from other
countries, irrespective of their migration methodology as immigrants.