Book Review: Strategies for Deconstructing Racism in the Health and Human Services

Strategies for Deconstructing Racism in the Health and Human Services, edited by Alma J. Carten, Mary Pender Greene, and Alan Siskind, Oxford University Press, New York, NY, 2016, ISBN 978019936890-7, 392 pages, $59.95. 

“Growth begins where comfort ends.” (Greene & Levine, 2016)

    Strategies for Deconstructing Racism in the Health and Human Services, written by a collective of professionals in the field and edited by Alma J. Carten, Mary Pender Greene, and Alan Siskind, takes an analytical look at a topic of discussion that many of us, African Americans and White Americans alike, are keen to avoid—racism. After a successful change effort in New York City to deliver more competent services to people of color, social work practitioners gathered together to create this book, which dictates the methods they used to garner success and to create a more diverse and culturally inclusive system of social services in their area.   

     The book seeks first to explain personal bias, structural racism, and institutional racism and their effect on organizational operations in social services agencies in the United States. Written like a collection of peer-reviewed journal articles, this book attempts to answer questions that many professionals in the human services industry have about racism but may be too afraid to ask, or may not have the proper platform on which to discuss.    As social workers, it is our duty to continually challenge ourselves to learn how to deliver the most competent services we can for any given client or client system. This book offers with an optimistic tone suggestions for competent “antiracist” practice grounded in research-based evidence for a wide breadth of different social work professionals.  

     Are you the executive director of a social work organization? There is a chapter dedicated to incorporating antiracist work at staff and board levels. Are you a social work researcher, or perhaps an educator? Learn how to conduct culturally competent research and create curricula for your students that will engage them and inform them about the effects of racism.  

     The latter half of the book focuses on special populations and the systemic impacts that racism can have on some individuals. In addition to this, there is also plenty of material on best practices for direct-practice social workers.  

     Not only do I believe this book to be a useful tool for social workers across the span of the profession, but I believe it to be a tool that anyone who wishes to learn more about how to combat racism could find useful. My sole criticism of the book has to do with its formatting. Considering the informative and logical nature of the book, the material can feel a bit dense at times. I suggest allotting plenty of time to read a chapter and some additional time after reading to decompress and consider the implications of what was just read.

Reviewed by Kyle Cosoleto-Miller, BSW.