Manichean Psychology
Subtitle: Racism and the Minds of People of African Descent
Publisher: Howard University Press
Published: April 1999
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 297
ISBN-13: 9780882582030
Subjects: Racism; United States; Psychology; Black American Sociology; Ethnopsychology; Social Science; Sociology; Race relations; General; Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - General; African Americans; Psychological aspects
First sentence: When the media brought us face to face with the "drug kingpin," a parade of ifs filled my mind.
Description: "In order to provide a valid description of the impact of racism on people of African descent, one must examine the influences and processes that lie in three distinct but interacting domains. The first domain comprises the stimulus events (input) that tend to support and perpetuate racism. The second centers on the mental processes, universal and personal, that the victim goes through in response to racism.

Finally, the third domain are the states of mind and the patterns of behavior (output) formed in reaction to racism.".

"Most of the current research is concerned with the third domain. Scholars have generated analyses of deteriorated family structures, negative attitudes, violent behavior, and poor academic achievement, among others. Some excellent studies have also been completed on stimulus events and the racist environments. Very little research has been done on the second domain, the mental processes. It is the purpose of Manichean Psychology to fill this void.".

"Essentially, Manichean Psychology's focus is the mental processes that occur in a racist environment. Although stimulus (input) and response (output) events are discussed, the material in each chapter concentrates on the mental events and activities that are involved in processing the former and producing the latter."--BOOK JACKET.