Schizophrenia in British Immigrants: Recent Findings, Issues and Implications

Recent literature reveals three clusters of findings with respect to schizophrenia in British immigrants: (1) while there are high rates of schizophrenia among many British immigrant groups, the rates are most consistently elevated among British Afro-Caribbeans; (2) there are high rates of compulsory hospital admission, and police contact prior to admission, in British Blacks with schizophrenia; and (3) there may be poorer outcome in Afro-Caribbean schizophrenic patients, when compared to Caucasian and Asian patients. Current explanatory hypotheses point away from genetic theories and highlight environmental factors, including socio-economic disadvantage and racism, as well as family and community responses to psychiatric disorders.