The Neglected Social Psychology of Institutional Racism

Theories of institutional racism and institutionalized discrimination have been remarkably influential in the understanding of continuing racial inequality and contemporary race relations. These theories and related claims have also been criticized as being improperly conceptualized, employing circular reasoning, neglecting nonracial dimensions of inequality, failing to specify causal mechanisms, and employing questionable inferences and attributions. These issues can be illuminated by critically reviewing how theories of institutional racism and institutionalized discrimination handle issues of social psychology. Issues of social psychology are often treated only minimally or implicitly, and often dismissively. This neglect is the root of many concerns about theories of institutional racism and institutionalized discrimination. Increased attention to and employment of scholarship in social psychology can contribute greatly to an understanding of contemporary racial inequality and race relations that advances both academic interests and practical interests in the evaluation and reform of the institutional practices that perpetuate racial inequality.     

American Racism: Implications for Social Work

The opportunity to conduct research into an area of personal disability provides the graduate student additional maturation and increased self-realization. The student is thereby able to contribute significantly to the corporate knowledge of the disability through integration of past personal experience with the knowledge and techniques gained through professional education.     

‘Because they tip for shit!’: The Social Psychology of Everyday Racism in Restaurants

Despite the notion that racism and discrimination are things of the past, racial minorities continue to experience such treatment in everyday interactions, often occurring in commercial transactions. In this paper, we analyze data from a survey of restaurant servers (N = 200) and a qualitative field study. Both were designed to explore the racial climate in restaurants. Our findings show that servers not only observe their co‐workers practicing discriminatory behaviors but also report doing so themselves. Referring to this trend as ‘tableside racism’, we argue that restaurant servers engage in racist discourse, which functions to create and sustain stereotypes about black patrons. These workplace interactions shape the service that is extended to black patrons, thus resulting in a self‐fulfilling prophecy wherein they receive poor tips and treatment from blacks that reflect inferior service. To illustrate the process of server discrimination, we situate our findings in a social psychological framework.