A large body of research has established a causal relationship between experiences of racial discrimination and adverse effects on mental and physical health. In Measuring the Effects of Racism, Robert T. Carter and Alex L. Pieterse offer a manual for mental health professionals on how to understand, assess, and treat the effects of racism as a psychological injury.

Carter and Pieterse provide guidance on how to recognize the psychological effects of racism and racial discrimination. They propose an approach to understanding racism that connects particular experiences and incidents with a person’s individual psychological and emotional response. They detail how to evaluate the specific effects of race-based encounters that produce psychological distress and possibly impairment or trauma. Carter and Pieterse outline therapeutic interventions for use with individuals and groups who have experienced racial trauma, and they draw attention to the importance of racial awareness for practitioners. The book features a racial-trauma assessment toolkit, including a race-based traumatic-stress symptoms scale and interview schedule. Useful for both scholars and practitioners, including social workers, educators, and counselors, Measuring the Effects of Racism offers a new framework of race-based traumatic stress that helps legitimize psychological reactions to experiences of racism.

"[A] well-researched book." - Psychiatric Times

"It is impossible to cover immense strengths of this book in this four-page review. The authors validate many points that address a huge gap currently prominent in society and provide evidence of ways to measure the effects and impact of racism, encourage training to prepare mental health workers, and clinical ideas for working with people of color who are impacted by racism. I believe this text takes a huge step in the process of helping clients who come to mental health workers measure the effects of racism and guide future work to effectively increase the well-being of people of color who have experienced racism. This text is appropriate for all mental health workers and health-care professionals who work with individuals, families, and student groups." - Social Work with Groups