The Ten Essential Shared Capabilities

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• Race equality and cultural capability
  • 1. How BME service users have experienced mental health services
  • 2. Key factors from this overall experience
  • 3. Defining race and culture
  • 4. Breaking the Circles of Fear
  • 5. An organisational focus on change
  • 6. A holistic approach as the key to assessment
  • 7. Delivering race equality
  • 8. Links to further learning
  • 9. Definitions
  • 10. Legal Context - Race

9. Definitions

The following definitions should be considered in the context of this module:

Race:
This is a term that refers to a person’s nationality, country of origin, colour or ancestry. The term ‘race’ is used in this scheme to be consistent with anti-discrimination legislation and not to imply or endorse the long discredited notion of race as a valid biological concept. ‘Race’ is commonly taken as the basis upon which groups of people are identified as distinct from each other.

Racism:
(1) In general terms consists of conduct or words, practices which disadvantage or advantage people because of their colour, culture or ethnic origin.

Racism:
(2) ‘Conduct… words or practices which advantage or disadvantage people because of their colour, culture or ethnic origin.’ (The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry 1999)

Racial group:
A group of people defined by their race, colour, nationality (including citizenship) ethnic or national origins.

Direct discrimination:
Treating people less favourably on the grounds of race (race, colour, national origins).

Indirect discrimination:
Applying a rule or requirement which effectively leads to less favourable conditions or treatment for particular groups of people.

Institutional racism:
‘The collective failure of an organisation to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their colour, culture or ethnic origin. It can be seen or detected in the processes, attitudes and behaviour which amount to discrimination through unwitting prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness and racist stereotyping which disadvantage minority ethnic people.’ (The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry 1999)

Racial discrimination:
Direct racial discrimination occurs ‘when one person is treated less favourably than another is, has been or would be treated in a comparable situation on the grounds of racial or ethnic origin’. Indirect racial discrimination occurs when a person applies to another person ‘a rule or condition, which if applied to everyone, can be met by a considerably smaller proportion of people from a particular racial group, the rule is to their disadvantage and the condition or rule cannot by justified on non-racial grounds’ (The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry definition). An example of indirect discrimination would be a height requirement for employment, which may disadvantage some minority ethnic groups.

Racial harassment:
This is one aspect of racial discrimination and is any behaviour, deliberate or otherwise, pertaining to race, colour, ethnic or national origin and religion, which is directed at an individual or group that is found to be offensive or objectionable to the recipient(s), and which creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive environment. Bullying or intimidating behaviour may also be considered as racial discrimination. This may take place over a period of time or be a single incident that might include any of the following:

• derogatory name-calling
• insults and racist jokes
• ridicule of an individual because of ethnic/cultural differences
• exclusion from normal workplace conversation or social events
• unfair allocation of work and responsibilities
• racist graffiti or insignia
• verbal abuse and threats
• physical attack
• incitement of others to commit any of the above.

Race Equality Scheme:
A timetabled and realistic plan, setting out the organisation’s arrangements for meeting the general and specific duties under the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000.

Prejudice:
Occurs when someone pre-judges an individual or people from a particular racial group because of ignorance or a belief in certain stereotypes or assumptions.

Stereotyping:
The act of labelling or categorising particular groups, usually in a negative way, because of preconceived ideas about their ability or intelligence. It relies on broad generalisations, often popularly held, that all members of a particular racial or ethnic group will think and behave in an identical way.

Victimisation:
Punishing or treating someone unfairly because they have made a complaint of racial discrimination, or are thought to have done so; or because they have supported someone who has made a complaint of racial discrimination. Victimisation is defined as unlawful discrimination under the Race Relations Act.

(BME) Black and other minority ethnic people:
The term ‘Black’ is often used to refer to people of African, Caribbean, South Asian and South East Asian origins. The inclusion of the word ‘other’ emphasises the significant differences that can exist within and between minority ethnic groups.