The stigma of mental illness on children of color.

Abstract

Children and adolescents who have been designated as mentally ill, mentally retarded, juvenile delinquent, poor, homeless, or sexually abused at some point in their lives experience a great deal of difficulty in removing such labels. Society has persisted in using these labels even when the designated person is engaged in many of the things taken for granted among "normal" persons of their age and culture. The author discusses the stigma that results from unreliable, invalid, unstandardized identification of psychiatric disorders, particularly among children from ethnic minority groups. Research is needed that improves clinical information processing, particularly among the multicultural population of the United States. For too long majority-based norms have been the focus of research, with little consideration given to the creative adaptations that have occurred among ethnic minority groups.