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Discrimination

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Discrimination and Immigrant Mental Health

Discrimination is a social behavior whereby one particular group of people is treated less favorably than others because of their race, color, nationality, or ethnic or national origin. Most countries recognize two kinds of racial discrimination: direct and indirect. Direct discrimination occurs when race, color, nationality or ethnic or national origin is used as an explicit reason for discriminating. Indirect discrimination occurs when rules, regulations, or procedures operating have the effect of discriminating against certain groups of people. Discrimination is not only common in the developed countries in North America and Europe but also in post-slavery and postcolonial countries where legacies of discrimination have been institutionalized.

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” The Ottawa Charter for Health...

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© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

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Robertson-Hickling, H., Hickling, F.W. (2012). Discrimination. In: Loue, S., Sajatovic, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Immigrant Health. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-5659-0_212

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-5659-0_212

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-5655-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-5659-0

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