A Tri-Country Analysis of the Effects of White Supremacy in Mental Health Practice and Proposed Policy Alternatives

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to take a closer look at mental health care policies in Nigeria, China, and the United States. These nations were selected for their demographic diversity as well as for the shared influence that European colonization, imperialism, and white supremacy culture have had on their equally diverse mental health policies and practices. How do historical and cultural perspectives affect different nations’ mental health policies and approaches (via a multi-nation comparison)? This analysis aims to tackle this question, discussing how cultural humility both currently and historically informs mental health treatment for non-white populations within the United State. In addition it examines imperialist and colonial mental health treatment of local populations in China and Nigeria. Finally, a global policy strategy is presented to promote the practice of cultural humility on a multinational scale.

Keywords: Cultural humility, Decolonization, white supremacy, Global policy, Global mental health