TY  - EJOU
AU  - McNally, M. Richard J.
TI  - Is Clinical Psychological Science Infected by Racism and White Supremacy?
T2  - Journal of Controversial Ideas

PY  - 2024
VL  - 4
IS  - 2
SN  - 2694-5991

AB  - The psychological clinical science paradigm holds that mental health problems should be treated with therapies having the strongest evidence for their efficacy. For the past several decades, clinical scientists have conducted randomized controlled trials identifying specific treatments that best alleviate symptoms of many psychological disorders, as confirmed by objective, reliable assessments. However, a growing number of psychologists, exemplified by Rodriguez-Seijas et al. (2024), argue that the paradigm fosters a racist, White supremacist subdiscipline. They urge clinical scientists to embrace an antiracist agenda by promoting equity (i.e., equal outcomes) for minority and majority groups in access to doctoral programs, publications in high-impact journals, faculty positions, and grants. The purpose of this article is to evaluate the arguments and evidence bearing on the claim that the paradigm is infected with racist, White supremacist ideology, and to defend the meritocratic standards that have underwritten the success of clinical science.
KW  - Clinical science
KW  - antiracism
KW  - White supremacy
KW  - meritocracy
DO  - 10.35995/jci04020013