What Structural Racism Is (or Is Not) and How to Measure It: Clarity for Public Health and Medical Researchers

Lorraine T. Dean; Roland J. Thorpe

doi:10.1093/aje/kwac112

What Structural Racism Is (or Is Not) and How to Measure It: Clarity for Public Health and Medical Researchers

Lorraine T. Dean, Roland J. Thorpe

Bloomberg School of Public Health

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Interest in studying structural racism's impacts on health has grown exponentially in recent years. Across these studies, there is much heterogeneity in the definition and measurement of structural racism, leading to mixed interpretations of structural racism's impact on health. A precise definition of structural racism can offer conceptual clarity to inform what mechanisms to investigate and is imperative for conducting high-quality research on it and dismantling it. In this commentary, we trace the evolution of the definitions of structural racism and suggest ways in which the measurement of structural racism should move forward given these definitions.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	1521-1526
Number of pages	6
Journal	American journal of epidemiology
Volume	191
Issue number	9
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwac112
State	Published - Aug 22 2022

Keywords

discrimination
measurement
racial inequities
structural racism

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Epidemiology

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10.1093/aje/kwac112

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What Structural Racism Is (or Is Not) and How to Measure It: Clarity for Public Health and Medical Researchers

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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