The very roots of social and behavioral science lie in examinations of inequality and social ills and efforts drawn from research and theory to ameliorate these wicked problems. This inquiry has and continues to offer some of this scholarship’s highest highs (and has at times provided some of its lowest lows), with work on racism, ‘otherness,’ inequality, and structural failures in societies commanding scholarly attention. Social Science Space, SAGE’s community site, holds up a mirror, and a microphone, to this social and behavioral science community, curating its insights, understanding its infrastructure, and logging its aspirations and frustrations. 

The following articles related to structural racism and institutional violence have appeared at Social Science Space. They have been written by the members of the community itself - social and behavioral scientists and their scholarly organizations. You can find further resources here.

Institutions

How have the building blocks of society – family, school, government and industry -- of everyday life created or co-opted discriminatory ideals and woven them into everyday life? These articles look at how social and behavioral research has identified the underlying issues and suggested ways forward for systems and governments 

Preventing Fatal Police Shootings: It Can Be Done – Archived Webinar

Published on May 25, 2020 By Social Science Space

Why Social Science? Because Institutional Racism Exacerbates our Health and Economic Challenges

Published on April 22, 2020 By Allison Plyer

What Does Research Say About Race, Diversity, Acceptance, and Hate?

Published on August 21, 2017 By SAGE

Watch William Julius Wilson Address Race in the Age of Trump

Published on June 21, 2017 By Center For Advanced Study In The Behavioral Sciences

Jennifer Hochschild on Race in America

Published on December 1, 2016 By Social Science Bites

Racial Bias and the Criminal Justice System: Research for a Fairer Future

Published on November 25, 2014 By Jennifer Anderson

Incidents

Seemingly permanent injustice comes to be the status quo and improvement as a result comes at a glacial pace. But individual incidents, from murders caught on cellphones to conceptual breakthroughs debuting in courtrooms, can catalyze change. What does social and behavioral science say or suggest as the first draft of history is laid down? 

Social Science in Action: Ferguson Is a Serious Outlier

Published on August 18, 2014 By Seth Masket

The War We Are (Regrettably) Not Fighting

Published on May 29, 2013 By American Academy Of Political And Social Science

Insights

Experimental inquiry and research is the atomic unit from which all science emerges. What are some of the specific findings and research outcomes about human beings and societies that inform our understanding of racism, brutality and inequality. 

Is the Concept of Race Science’s Biggest Mistake?

Published on January 5, 2017 By Darren Curnoe

Race, Gender, and Communication in the Workplace

Published on January 4, 2013 By Business & Management INK

Voices

In the end, the community is people, and those people participate in society as citizens, suffering injustices themselves (or perhaps causing it). Hear their stories. 

Recalling a Forgotten Anthropologist (and Victim) of Structural Racism

Published on February 13, 2017 By David Varel