Skip to main content

Structural Racism and Critical Race Theory: Contributions to Adolescent Health Inequities and Outcomes

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Promoting Health Equity Among Racially and Ethnically Diverse Adolescents

Abstract

The focus in this chapter is structural racism—the practices, cultural norms, and institutional arrangements that help create and maintain disparate racialized outcomes and its impact on adolescent health (Powell, NCL Rev 86:791, 2007). This is followed by a review of critical race theory—a race equity methodology with its origins in legal studies—as an important mechanism for achieving health equity.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Flores G, Lin H. Trends in racial/ ethnic disparities in medical and oral health, access to care, and use of services in US children: has anything changed over the years? Int J Equity Health. 2013;12:10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Pachter ML, Coll GC. Racism and child health: a review of the literature and future directions. J Dev Behav Pediatr. 2009;30(3):255–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Spalter-Roth RM, Lowenthal TA, Rubio M, American Sociological A. Race, ethnicity, and the health of Americans. 2005.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Powell JA. Structural racism: building upon the insights of John Calmore. NCL Rev. 2007;86:791.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Bonilla-Silva E. Rethinking racism: toward a structural interpretation. Am Sociol Rev. 1997;62(3):465–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Link BG, Phelan J. Social conditions as fundamental causes of disease. J Health Soc Behav. 1995;35:80–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Jones CP. Levels of Racism: A Theoretic Framework and a Gardener's Tale.(health outcome differences associated with race). Am J Public Health. 2000;90(8):1212.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Wald J, Losen DJ. Defining and redirecting a school-to-prison pipeline. New Dir Youth Dev. 2003;2003(99):9–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Lewin T. Black students face more discipline, data suggests. New York Times. 2012:A6.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Woolf SH, Johnson RE, Phillips RL Jr, Philipsen M. Giving everyone the health of the educated: an examination of whether social change would save more lives than medical advances. Am J Public Health. 2007;97(4):679–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Jemal A, Thun MJ, Ward EE, Henley SJ, Cokkinides VE, Murray TE. Mortality from leading causes by education and race in the United States, 2001. Am J Prev Med. 2008;34(1):1–8. e7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Ross CE, C-l W. The links between education and health. Am Sociol Rev. 1995;60:719–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Novello AC, Degraw C, Kleinman DV. Healthy children ready to learn: an essential collaboration between health and education. Public Health Rep. 1992;107(1):3.

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  14. Massey DS, Denton NA. The dimensions of residential segregation. Soc Forces. 1988;67(2):281–315.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Massey DS, Brodmann S. Spheres of influence: the social ecology of racial and class inequality (vol 122, pg 1302, 2017). Am J Sociol. 2017;122(5):1615.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Denton NA. Segregation and discrimination in housing. A right to housing: foundation for a new social agenda, vol. 61; 2006. p. 68.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Gee G, Payne-Sturges DC. Environmental health disparities: a framework integrating psychosocial and environmental concepts. Environ Health Perspect. 2004;112(17):1645–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Williams DR, Collins C. Racial residential segregation: a fundamental cause of racial disparities in health. Public Health Rep. 2001;116(5):404–16.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Bischoff K. School District fragmentation and racial residential segregation how do boundaries matter? Urban Aff Rev. 2008;44(2):182–217.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Walsemann KM, Bell BA. Integrated schools, segregated curriculum: effects of within-school segregation on adolescent health behaviors and educational aspirations. Am J Public Health. 2010;100(9):1687–95.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Hardeman RR, Murphy KA, Kozhimannil KB, Karbeah J. Naming structural racism in the public health literature: a systematic literature review. Public Health Reports Forthcoming. 2018;133:240–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Sanders-Phillips K. Racial discrimination: a continuum of violence exposure for children of color. Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev. 2009;12(2):174–95.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Greene ML, Way N, Pahl K. Trajectories of perceived adult and peer discrimination among black, Latino, and Asian American adolescents: patterns and psychological correlates. Dev Psychol. 2006;42(2):218–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Fisher CB, Wallace SA, Fenton RE. Discrimination distress during adolescence. J Youth Adolesc. 2000;29(6):679–95.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Brody GH, Chen YF, Murry VM, Ge XJ, Simons RL, Gibbons FX, et al. Perceived discrimination and the adjustment of African American youths: a five-year longitudinal analysis with contextual moderation effects. Child Dev. 2006;77(5):1170–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Terrell F, Miller AR, Foster K, Watkins CE Jr. Racial discrimination-induced anger and alcohol use among black adolescents. Adolescence. 2006;41(163):485.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Guthrie BJ, Young AM, Williams DR, Boyd CJ, Kintner EK. African American girls' smoking habits and day-to-day experiences with racial discrimination. Nurs Res. 2002;51(3):183–90.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Delgado R, Stefancic J. Critical race theory – an annotated-bibliography. VA Law Rev. 1993;79(2):461–516.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Delgado R. In: Stefancic J, Jstor e I, editors. Critical race theory : an introduction. 2nd ed. New York: New York University Press; 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  30. Brizee ATJ, Chernouski, L; Boyle, E. Literary theory and schools of criticism: Purdue writing lab [updated 2012]. Available from: owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/722/1.

  31. Phelan SM, Dovidio JF, Puhl RM, Burgess DJ, Nelson DB, Yeazel MW, et al. Implicit and explicit weight Bias in a National Sample of 4,732 medical students: the medical student CHANGES study. Obesity. 2014;22(4):1201–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Ford CL, Airhihenbuwa CO. Critical race theory, race equity, and public health: toward antiracism praxis. Am J Public Health. 2010;100:S30–S5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Hardeman RR, Medina EM, Kozhimannil KB. Structural racism and supporting black lives - the role of health professionals. N Engl J Med. 2016;375:2113.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Burke Harris N, Silvério Marques S, Oh D, Bucci M, Prevent CM. Screen, heal: collective action to fight the toxic effects of early life adversity. Acad Pediatr. 2017;17(7):S14–S5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Roberts DE. Killing the black body : race, reproduction, and the meaning of liberty. 1st ed. New York: Pantheon Books; 1997.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgment

The authors would like to acknowledge Ms. J’Mag Karbeah, MPH for her contributions to the literature review for this chapter.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rachel R. Hardeman .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Hardeman, R.R., Medina, E.M. (2019). Structural Racism and Critical Race Theory: Contributions to Adolescent Health Inequities and Outcomes. In: Barkley, L., Svetaz, M., Chulani, V. (eds) Promoting Health Equity Among Racially and Ethnically Diverse Adolescents. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97205-3_4

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97205-3_4

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-97204-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-97205-3

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics