Institutional Racism and Mental Health - Case Study Example

al Racism and Mental Health No of pages – 12 Order no. - 172609 Premium – 6530 Introduction: There is much speculation going on about the mental state of a person who commits a heinous crime such as murder. According to Forensic Psychologist Dr. Stanton Samenow, “most criminals are neither mentally ill nor victims of addictions" (Samenow, 1998; p.127) “Crimes are what we commit. Diseases are biological processes which happen to our bodies. Mixing these two concepts by defining behaviors we disapprove of as diseases is a bottomless source of confusion and corruption" (Szasz, 2002). The blurring of boundaries between character defect and mental illness has had damaging effects on psychiatric patients. Few people understand the concept or the meaning of the word “Psychopath”. This term is attributed to individuals who are extremely difficult and dangerous and who do not suffer any sort of mental illness. “Psychopaths”, unlike authentic sufferers of mental illness, do not lose touch with reality and rarely undergo any distress or anguish. They are basically immature, shallow and extremely selfish individuals who are very much sane and of normal intelligence. Psychopaths have been described as: "...social predators who...ruthlessly plow their way through life... completely lacking in conscience and in feelings for others, they selfishly take what they want and do as they please, violating social norms and expectations without the slightest sense of guilt or regret" (Hare, 1994; p.xi). The current vogue term or euphemism for the word psychopath is “personality disorder”. According to reports, nearly 20% of children and adolescents suffer psychological problems, many of whom are attributed to their abuse in childhood – just like our anti-hero of this case, Robert Stewart who murdered his cellmate Zahid Mubarak, with a table leg just hours before his release. It was very unfortunate that Zahid had to lose his life so easily when he had committed just a petty crime of stealing six dollars and tampering with someone’s bike. Different Types of Racism: Racism takes on different forms such as prejudice, segregation, and subordination (subjugation). More narrowly, racism can be referred to a legalized system of domination of one ethnic group over another such as “Institutional Racism”. Racial prejudice refers to the pre- conceived notion of a race based on their cultural heritage. Generalization of its members include that all its members have the same traits, culture, ideas, interests, language, norms, attitudes and personalities. In many instances, racism is promoted by the media and in several cases it is quite interesting to note that racism is so influential that it makes the victim “hate his own group” which is what is termed as “self hatred”. This leads to oppression within the group and thus paves a dead end to freedom and liberty. In such a scenario, even if the physical chains are removed, the mental chains remain there leaving an emotional scar for life. During the 19th century, “scientific racism” was spawned, which attempted to segregate humans according to their “biological race” such as “Blacks”, “Whites”, “Negroid” and “Asian”. Modern genetics reveal that there are no genes that are specific to either Blacks or Whites as such. The Impact of Racism: A theoretical form of racism that exists in institutions such as corporations, public bodies, universities and prisons is what is called “Institutional Racism”. Black Nationalist and Honorary Prime minister of the Black Panther Party, Stokely Carmichael was the first person to coin this term in the 1960’s. He defined the term as “collective failure of an organization to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their color, culture or any ethnic origin (Stokely Carmichael, 1960) Institutional Racism is a racial bias which has deep rooted and damaging effects on ethnic minority groups. A disconcerting and disheartening culture of racist abuse existed in the different institutions around the country where the Black and Asian people were referred to as “monkeys” and “black bastards” by the whites who discriminated them against their white counterparts asking them to leave and go back to their own country from where they came. Race- based discrimination and stereotyped caricatures of certain racial groups and misrepresentation of certain races, all prove to be a kind of hindrance and barrier to professional advancement of a race. For example, in 1935, the US Congress passed the Social Security Act, by which it guaranteed income after retirement to all except people coming from African – American, Asian – American and Mexican – American backgrounds. Hence these minority groups suffered, as they were not able to save, accumulate or pass down wealth to their future generations. These examples do not depend directly on the individual isolation or biases as such, but rather it lies imbedded in social structures and in institutions. Though in the above example no “race was specified, to be left out o the Social security Act, but the Act itself allowed the benefits of wealth to be enjoyed by certain racial groups and not to others. Some commentators also claim that “standardized testing” comes under “Institutional racism”. They are of the opinion that this kind of testing or assessment is biased towards certain minorities having a different cultural and social background with the result that in Western countries, they tend to score very low. But just because a particular race has a below the average aptitude, it cannot be considered that it is racial or otherwise institutional – rather it is a fact because some races have a higher aptitude and some have a lower aptitude than the others. Institutional Racism: Racism can be both “overt” and “covert”. Racism in individuals involved overt destruction by individuals to property as well as violence to self as well as to others. Institutional racism is more covert and subtle and takes place within the working of established and respected forces of society. An example of this would be the murder of Zahid Mubarak, an Asian, by the hands of Robert Stewart a staunch skinhead racist who were put in the same prison cell. The institution in question was the Feltham’s Institution for Young Offenders. Ethnic minorities prison officers turned a blind eye to this “racial discrimination” so that they could be in the “good books” of the white officers. Black inmates felt that they were being “stereotyped” as being more aggressive and violent and blamed for bullying or selling drugs to their white cellmates. The prison officials always had a strange notion that the Blacks were “drug peddlers” and “drug consumers” and there was all likelihood of them being double checked for the intake of drugs than their white friends. Many of the Black inmates complained that the Black and Ethnic minorities prison officers turned a blind eye to this “racial discrimination” so that they could be in the “good books” of the white officers. Just at a time when Feltham was overcrowded with prisoners, Stewart was shifted there. Feltham was being asked to do more than its share and that too with very limited resources. To add to its miseries, the population of prisoners kept increasing at Feltham and the prison suffered terribly from institutional racism and the staff were not adequately trained or equipped to deal with it. The chief inspector of prisons, Sir David Ramsbotham, surveyed the over- populated and deplorable conditions at Feltham and emphatically stated that the situation was “totally unacceptable”. The atmosphere at Feltham was described by him as institutionalized deprivation”. (Sir David Ramsbotham, March 1999) Further investigation by Sir Ramsbotham revealed that there were more than 5000 prisoner to prisoner assaults during the last ten years and in the past 6 months Feltham had seen seven suicides and change of four governors within the institution. He also noted that most of the young prisoners were spending long hours in their cells instead of being occupied with some activity. The detainees spent around 15 hours on an average, doing some activity and only 90 of the inmates there, received full education out of 800 of them. Health check ups by the Health Inspectors revealed that 18 out of the 23 of them were challenged with massive problems and should be in the hospital instead of a prison. The chief medical officer described them as “the most seriously mentally disturbed group of men” he had ever come across. Peter Misch, a Forensic psychologist who worked at Feltham for the last three years and specialized in adolescent behavior said that “the level of emotional and psychiatric disturbance was enormous, it was mind bogglingly high”.(Peter Misch) He also noted that the sanitation conditions were atrocious and the place was worse than a “pig sty”. The highly psychotic prisoners spent 23 and a half hours locked up in their cell and that is the reason the institution witnessed about 25 hangings in a week. It was in such an atmosphere that both Zahid and Stewart were forced to share a cell. Racism can unwittingly arise from ignorance, lack of understanding or mistaken beliefs. It can also arise from patronizing actions or words which were well intentioned. It can also be the outcome of being ignorant of the culture, traditions and beliefs of minority ethnic groups. It can also arise from ethnic stereotyping of Asians or blacks as potential criminals. Such attitudes can grow and thrive in a community that is tightly knit and does not entertain people of other races or communities. What might be termed as “collective organizational failure” has now been labeled as Institutional racism by academicians and others. Two black activists, Stokely and Charles V. Hamilton stated that institutional racism “originates in the operation of established and respected forces in the society. It relies on the active and pervasive operation of anti- black attitudes and practices. A sense of superior group positions prevails – whites are “better” than blacks and therefore blacks should be subordinated to whites. This is a racist attitude and it permeates society on both the individual and institutional level, covertly or overtly”. (Black Power: The Politics of Liberation in America, Penguin Books, 1967, pp 20-21) Institutional racism persists because of the failure of the organizations to openly recognize and address its existence and the causes that go with it. Failure to recognize these attitudes and action to eliminate such racism allows it to thrive and erode the culture of the organization. It can be compared to a corrosive disease. Racism, Institutional or otherwise should be eradicated before it eats its way into our societies. If this has to take place then there should be specified and coordinated action on the part of the agencies themselves and also by the society at large, particularly through the system of education- right from the pre-primary school and right through the whole educational process. Though the educational system would face a lot of negative publicity, yet society would be amply benefited in the long run. To achieve this, the Government should consider how best to empower local education authorities so that they could create, monitor and enforce anti- racist attitudes and policies in their regular curriculum by creating an awareness to value and encourage cultural diversity in a multi- ethnic society that we live in. Stewart’s Childhood and Mental Health Problems: Stewart had an extremely rough, misfortunate and disturbed childhood. The bitter childhood of Stewart made him exhibit mental problems even from the tender age of 10. Though he was taken to a psychiatrist, he never received any treatment for personality problems that he had. Moreover the information of these problems was not handed over to the various institutions he visited all through his teens. The problems he faced received no attention what-so-ever- they were neither addressed nor was he given any special counseling or mental health treatment. He always exhibited violent behavior from a very tender age and this grew to pose a major setback in his adolescent years. From the age of 14 he was in care and as soon as he was old enough, he was put in prison service – receiving his first custodial sentence at the age of 15. For the next 5 years Stewart became institutionalized and only knew prison life. Therefore, most of his youth was spent at different young offender’s institutions. The evidence in his case file spoke of a serious mental disorder. He always exhibited wild and bizarre behavior like harming himself, swallowing batteries, even flooding his cell, setting himself and his cell on fire and on many occasions attempting to commit suicide. He was also found talking to the walls or to himself and constantly violent with fellow prisoners. . Racist graffiti decorated the walls of Stewart’s cell. He was on remand for sending hundreds of malicious and racially motivated letters to his friends and was charged under “The Harassment Act”. He fantasized about planting nail bombs and revered the killers of Stephen Lawrence and even predicted killing his cellmate. In 1997, when at another institution, he was seen by a doctor on three occasions for health care assessment following disruptive and harmful behavior. In November 1997 just four months before he murdered the Asian, he was seen by a mental health nurse who stated that Stewart had “long-standing deep-seated personality disorder" and that he showed "a glaring lack of remorse, feeling, insight, foresight or any other emotion." He had also tried to make two attempts to escape from custody and repeatedly caused damage to his cell. An example to show that Stewart was devoid of emotions like pity or sadness could be seen in the way he answered the prison officer who came to the cell after hearing the beeper go. He just said “My cellmates had an accident” and when the investigation officer came to appraise the crime scene he found that Stewart had scribbled a Swastika on the walls with the words “Just killed me pad mate”. It was such a blunt statement showing no sorrow or regret. On another occasion he stabbed one of the prisoners below the eye and threatened to take another prisoner hostage. He was also a passive witness to the murdering of a cellmate by his friend Travis and showed no remorse or any feeling of pity at the killing what-so-ever. Robert Stewart was also nineteen years of age when he bludgeoned his cellmate Mubarak as he slept peacefully in his bed just hours before his release on 21st March 2000. He had the tattoo of a cross and a RIP (Rest in Peace) sign on his forehead and the notice- board of his cell had the sign of the Ku Klux Klan. He was known to the prison staff and other prisoners as a hardcore and violent racist who had a long history of violence and mental illness. During the police interrogation, Stewart admitted to having committed the assault on Mubarak. When questioned as to why he had attacked him, he just said, “I don’t even know myself, it’s hard to explain, I just felt like it”. His statements were so casual that it made people wonder if it were really taking place and could a young energetic person like him have so much of disgust and hatred in his heart. The Inquiry ran deep into the investigation and dug out facts that were long since buried and it sought to rectify the wrongs done to the Mubarak family as well as set right all the failings of the Feltham Institution so that in future nothing like this will ever occur again. This kind of public Inquiry is an example of how an Inquiry such as this, can bring to light evidence and facts that a private investigation or a prison service internal inquiry is not capable of doing. Racism in the Police Services: Most institutions have an inclination to show racial discrimination when dealing with people from ethnic minorities and this includes even the Police services. When investigating into the murder of Stephen Lawrence, the Inquiry found the investigating police officers to be “institutionally racist”. But “The Kent Report”, found no evidence to support the allegations of the racist conduct by any Metropolitan Police Officer involved in the investigation of the murder of Stephen Lawrence”. Kent Report, paragraph 14.28) The Kent investigation was however, “an investigation into complaints against specific officers and as such could not cover the broader issues of racism and whether or not it existed within the Metropolitan Police Force”. (Kent report, paragraph 14.25) Sir William Macpherson defined racism in this context saying, “it is the collective failure of an organization to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their color, culture or ethnic origin” which “can be seen or detected in processes, attitudes and behavior which amount to discrimination through unwitting prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness and racist stereotyping which disadvantages minority ethnic people”. (Sir William Macpherson) As a result of this the “Macpherson Report”, sought and attempted to remove Institutional racism from the Metropolitan Police Force by implementing stringent measures of control. Racism in the Media: Sir Ian Blair, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner addressed the media as “Institutionally racist”. Though it was well received and rather welcomed by the Black Police Association, it provoked heated response from the media. The primary basis of racism is the concept of race and its discrimination. It includes connotations of race based bigotry, violence, prejudice, discrimination, oppression and stereotyping – a lot of which is kindled by the media. As an ideology, racism first occurred in Spain during the early Modern Period and then during the 19th century when scientific racism attempted to racially classify human races. Though such racist ideologies have been discredited after World War II and the Holocaust, yet they seem to run rampant all over the world today for which the media is also highly responsible. Racism has been a motivating factor for racial segregation and social discrimination. In many countries racial discrimination is illegal and therefore punishable. But in other countries, politicians practice “race baiting” in their attempt to win more votes during the election season. The media plays a big hand during this time as it attempts to sway the opinion of the people who are about to cast their vote. Institutional racism that has come to be part and parcel of our society has created scars that should be healed in time. Let us call upon people from all different walks of life, different societies and different cultures to join hands with each other in getting rid of Institutional racism as well as individual racism, so that everyone would live in peace and harmony and making the world a better place to live in. References: Mind in Manchester –Community Scare. (Journal) www.mind-in-manchester.org.uk/.../personality_order_madness_or_badness.php Investigatory Inquires and Inquiries Act - 2005 www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/notes/snpc-02599.pdf Racist Murderer Stewart could kill again www.24dash.com/content/news/viewNews.php?navID=7&newsID=7516 BBC News| UK| Murdered Inmate “feared racist” www.news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4044997.stm Black Information Link www.blink.org.uk/pdescription.asp?key=11948&grp=47&cat=399 London Communists: Mubarak Inquiry, Institutional Murder. www.Londoncommunists.blogspot.com/2006/07/mubarak-inquiry-institutional-murder.html Luke O’Farrel www.heretical.com/ofarrell/nigger.html Guardian Unlimited: Special reports. www.guardian.co.uk/racism/Story/0,,387555,00.html The Observer www.observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,515295,00.html Racism no way www.racismnoway.com.au/classroom/lesson_ideas/2000726_48.htm Race Instructional www.zmag.org/racewatch/znet_race_instructional.htm Institutional Racism www.academic.udayton.edu/race/01race/racism05.htm Institutional racism www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institutional_racism. 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