Issues in indigenous psychology

Question 1

How many Indigenous people are there within the population today and how many were there prior to 1770?

Answer 1

Today = 500 000 (half)

Prior 1770 = 1 million

Question 2

How do Aboriginal people see their identity?

Answer 2

As part of a collective and connected to community and the land.

Question 3

What reduced the numbers of Aboriginal people in Australia?

Answer 3

Massacres
Poisonings
Disease
Legislation (stolen generation)

Question 4

What are two general types of policies set out by the legislation against indigenous people?

Answer 4

Protection

Assimilation

Question 5

What is the definition of genocide?

Answer 5

Any acts committed with intent to destroy in part, a national, ethical, racial or religious group.

Question 6

What acts are considered crimes of genocide?

Answer 6

> Killing members of the group;
Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
Conditions calculated to bring about its destruction
Imposing measures intended to prevent births;
Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

Question 7

What was the first Report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families?

Answer 7

The Bringing Them Home Report, 1997

Question 8

Why is it important to consider how Indigenous people were treated?

Answer 8

To understand the origins of disadvantage and the impact of past traumas

Question 9

What have been some of the of the impacts that the trauma of the stolen generation has caused?

Answer 9

psychological trauma
inability to relate to others
disconnection from family and community
disruption: loss of parental and other significant role models
poverty 
low-life expectancy 
high unemployment 
low education retention rates 
high incarceration rates 
dis-personalisation

Question 10

What is the definition of oppression?

Answer 10

The imposition of one person’s (or group’s)
choice upon another
Social, Institutionalised or Systemic
Changes over time (old fashion vs modern racism)

Question 11

What is meant by racism?

Answer 11

Society’s establishment and maintenance of a hierarchy of respectability, acceptability and power (favour of the in-group)

Question 12

What are the 3 stages of victimisation?

Answer 12

traumatic events
discounting victim’s experiences
internalisation of society’s negative perception = trauma

Question 13

What causes ambivalence in the identity of many Indigenous youth?

Answer 13

Pride

Shared Identity

Question 14

Why has violence occurred intra-culturally?

Answer 14

Because they have not been able to act out frustration and anger against non- Aboriginal oppression there has been a transfer of that rage inwards

Question 15

What should be considered when looking at abuse from people of the stolen generation?

Answer 15

Lack of parenting skills passed on (attachment)
Poor communication - told to be quiet
Abuse present in many family environments

Question 16

How does attachment relate to the stolen generation?

Answer 16

Impacts bonding and the process of nurturing AND causes problems in forming trusting and stable relationships and parenting children

Question 17

What disorder is common in the Indigenous community?

Answer 17

Mood disorders = Dysthymic depression (long-term)

Question 18

Other than depression and attachment issues, what else should you be aware of due to high occurrences in Indigenous communities?

Answer 18

Substance abuse = dulling emotional pain
Dual diagnosis often
Grief issues 
Children with parents with PTSD 
FAS = Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Question 19

Who have often been thought as, as ‘the real Aboriginals’?

Answer 19

Those with a ‘stronger sense of identity’

e.g. those who speak the language and live in remote areas.

Question 20

What does shame have to do with Indigenous Psychology?

Answer 20

It is a social emotion characterised by a feeling of failure which creates distress and pain and is incredibly difficult to cope with

Question 21

How may adaption be negative?

Answer 21

Violence, trauma and crisis become an accepted/ normalised part of life

Question 22

What is typically (and negatively) seen as a common right of passage?

Answer 22

Jail = poor future aspirations

Question 23

Why is abuse present in many family environments?

Answer 23

Parents have trauma
Transgenerational
Dysfunction traumatises subsequent generations

Question 24

What is cultural competency?

Answer 24

understanding and being understood

Question 25

What is ethnocentrism?

Answer 25

Using one’s own cultural values and standards to judge others

Question 26

What types of interventions are used with Indigenous trauma patients?

Answer 26

CBT (Cognitive behavioural therapy)
Art Therapy
Drama
Narrative Therapy

Question 27

If you are working with Indigenous people what should you do?

Answer 27

Be open to establishing relationships 
Don't use flashy terminology 
Don't have attitude/ be negative 
Be humble (know that you have very little cultural competency but you are willing to learn) 
Be aware of your own biases