Critical Self-reflection on Racism by Hospital Physicians in Large German Cities. A Qualitative Reconstructive Study...

Area of Science:

• Medical Sociology
• Public Health
• Critical Whiteness Studies

Background:

• Racism is prevalent in healthcare, affecting staff and patients.
• Physicians play a critical role in addressing racism within healthcare systems.
• Evidence on racism among German healthcare professionals is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate white physicians' attitudes toward racism in major German cities.
• To examine physicians' critical self-reflection on their actions and attitudes regarding racism.
• To identify potential intervention points for reducing racism in healthcare.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative study using six episodic interviews with physicians.
• Analysis employed the reconstructive qualitative procedure of the documentary method.
• A sense-genetic typology was developed to categorize attitudes and self-reflection.

Main Results:

• Three attitudes towards racism were identified: acknowledging, individualistic, and ignoring.
• Four self-reflection types emerged: self-critical, socially critical, worried, and defensive.
• Acknowledging attitudes (self-critical, socially critical) show promise for interventions.

Conclusions:

• Interventions to reduce racism should be tailored to physicians' self-reflection types.
• Self-critical and socially critical physicians offer the most promising targets for anti-racism initiatives.
• Defensive and worried types may require different approaches for effective deconstruction of racism.