Centre for Policy on Ageing



Agency and structure — the impact of ethnic identity and racism on the health of ethnic minority people
Author(s)	Saffron Karlsen, James Y Nazroo
Journal title	Sociology of Health & Illness, vol 24, no 1, January 2002
Pages	pp 1-20
Keywords	Ethnic groups ; Health [elderly] ; Socio-economic groups ; Racism ; Poverty ; Social surveys.
Annotation	To understand ethnic inequalities in health, we must take account of the relationship between ethnic minority status, structural disadvantage and agency. So far, the direct effects of racial oppression on health, and the role ethnicity as identity, which is in part a product of agency have been ignored. Using data from the Fourth National Survey of Ethnic Minorities, the authors set out to redress this balance. Factor analysis suggests that dimensions of ethnic identity were consistent across various ethnic minority groups. Initially some of these dimensions of ethnic identity appeared to be related to health; but in a multivariate model, the factor relating to a racialised identity was the only one that exhibited any relationship with health. These findings suggest that ethnic identity is not related to health. Rather, the multivariate analyses show strong independent relationships between health and experiences of racism, perceived racial discrimination and class. (KJ/RH).
Accession Number	CPA-020321202 A
Classmark	TK: CC: T4: TMG: W6: 3F
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.