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Race - Race is an arbitrary classification of human beings based on skin colour and other superficial physical characteristics. This classification, conceived in Europe in the colonial period, placed the populations of the world in a hierarchical order with white Europeans superior to all others. Modern biologists do not recognize race as a meaningful scientific category and recent human genome research is conclusive on this point.

Racism - Individual and institutionalized beliefs and practices which advocate that some races are inferior to others. The belief that one's racial group is somehow superior to other groups leads, with the aid of stereotypes, to discrimination and prejudice.

Reclaiming Aboriginal culture - A principle of Aboriginal social work. It goes beyond regaining language, religion and folkways, and instead emphasizes an awareness and reflection on common aspects of culture and identity. By examining Aboriginal history, culture and traditions and dispelling conventional views of Aboriginal reality flowing form colonialism, Aboriginal people can begin to see the structural causes of individual problems.

Rehabilitation - A goal-oriented and time-limited process aimed at providing an impaired person with the tools to change her or his own life, thus enabling him or her to reach optimal mental, physical, and/or social functioning. It can involve measures intended to compensate for a loss of function or a functional limitation (for example, technical aids) and other measures intended to facilitate social adjustment or readjustment.

Relative poverty - A definition of poverty that looks at income in comparison to the income of other Canadians.

Residential schools - Schools were used to remove Native children from Native homes and communities and restrict their culture and language. They separated children from their families and communities for up to years at a time. The purpose was to fulfill assimilation policies of the federal government, were large numbers of children experienced emotional, physical and sexual abuse.

Residual view of social welfare - The view that governments should play only a limited role in the distribution of social welfare. The state should only step in when the normal sources of support fail and the individual is unable to help themselves.

Risk assessment - In the child abuse area, risk assessment refers to an educated prediction regarding the likelihood that a child will be maltreated based on a careful examination of pertinent data.

Rothman's Model of community development - A useful approach to conceptualizing community development is a typology developed by Rothman, involving three components: locality development, social planning, and social action. To these should be added a fourth: participatory action research.

Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples - The Final Report in 1996 brings together six years of research and public consultation on First Nations issues. This is the most extensive research to date and provides the basis for significant strides forward. Among the many issues discussed, the Report examines the need for Aboriginal people to heal from the consequences of domination, displacement and assimilation. The foundation for a renewed relationship, according to the Report, involves recognition of Aboriginal nations as political entities.

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