The effects of race and social class on clinical judgment

Asked 61 male clinical psychologists (21 blacks and 40 whites) to assess case histories that were presented to them to determine whether racial or social class biases could be detected. In order to avoid the apparent artificial results or weak interpretations of past research, only cases with concurrently validated diagnoses and 4-year follow-up were used. An equal number of positive and negative clinical outcomes were included. Diagnosis, disposition, and rated severity were studied. The following results were found: (1) diagnosis for all psychologists was guided by case characteristics, not bias; (2) severity was related strongly to diagnosis; (3) disposition followed judgments of severity and diagnosis, not bias. The question was raised whether clinical investigators may not have overdramatized bias in psychodiagnosis and clinical judgment.