Racial Identity Disruption Syndrome (RIDS): Toward a Psychological Model of Racism and Colorism

Abstract

Racism and colorism continue to have deep psychological and relational impacts, yet existing frameworks often treat them either as moral failings or purely structural problems, paying limited attention to their internal psychological effects. This paper introduces Racial Identity Disruption Syndrome (RIDS) as a provisional, integrative framework for understanding how racialized environments can shape identity, thought, emotion, and behavior through self-reinforcing psychological and neurocognitive processes. Drawing on cognitive-behavioral theory, psychodynamic perspectives, social identity theory, and neuroscience, RIDS frames racism and colorism as disruptions of identity integration rather than fixed traits or medical diagnoses.

A conceptual diagram illustrates how rigid racial schemas, emotional dysregulation, defensive identity processes, and threat-based neurocognitive responses interact within broader sociocultural contexts to perpetuate relational harm and impaired empathy. The paper outlines provisional phenomenological indicators of RIDS, emphasizing that these are heuristic tools rather than diagnostic criteria, meant to guide ethical inquiry and empirical research. A multi-level intervention framework is proposed, addressing intrapersonal, relational, institutional, and structural levels to support identity integration, emotional regulation, and restorative repair.

Finally, the paper discusses implications for research, policy, and professional practice, while acknowledging conceptual, empirical, and ethical limitations. By framing racialized harm as a modifiable, context-dependent pattern of identity disruption, the RIDS framework aims to foster interdisciplinary dialogue, empirical investigation, and ethically grounded approaches to racial healing. It is offered not as a final classification, but as a reflective scaffold for understanding and transforming the psychological dimensions of racism and colorism.

Keywords: Racial Identity Disruption Syndrome, racism, colorism, identity integration, emotional dysregulation, neurocognitive processes, restorative interventions