Racism and mental health into the 21st century: Perspectives and parameters

Definitions and theories of racism are reviewed, and the influence of racis m on the American mental health system is examined, with special attention to the effects on racial and ethnic minorities of the sociopolitical climat e of the 1990s. The aims of this special section are outlined and an overvi ew to is presented of the articles, which define some of the key problems o f racism and mental health, describe their scope and effects, and propose a pproaches to remediation as rue move into the 21st century.