L3 - Cultural Psychology Flashcards
What is the 1836 “letters patent” and what does it say about Indigenous property rights?
The founding document of SA
Enshrined Indigenous property rights into the patent.
- However, after consecutive governors it was not honoured.
Why did Indigenous populations get the right to vote before women in SA?
Because of the 1836 “letters patent”
There were over 250 First Nations AUstralian language groups at the time of European settlement in 1788
How many are there today?
120
What are the three worlds in the aboriginal dreamtime?
Human World
Physical World
Sacred World
In the past, how were aboriginal people seen by the colonists?
Aboriginals were inferior and childlike
What were the main Australian policy that impacted the aboriginal people from 1788 to 1990s?
What policy had a great traumatic effect on aboriginal families and led to aboriginals becoming more proud about their culture?
Stolen Generation
What are the 6 policies and practices developed by colonial and post-colonail governments that impact the health of indigenous australians
- Policy Vacuum
- Protection
- Assimilation and Absorption
- Integration
- Self-determination / Aboriginal control over their own future
- After self-determination
What was the “Stolen Generation”?
When aboriginal families were taken from their families to “breed the blackness out of their skin”
they would take their hair despite the fact that it is spiritually meaningful to aboriginals
What are the “bringing them home recommendations” to help heal the wound of the Indigenous people?
Who is Dr Tracy Westerman?
What did she develop to help aboriginal youth?
Developed 4 unique psychometric tests which are a substantial contribution to Aboriginal youth suicide prevention
Name the risk and protective factors for psychological distress in aboriginal peoples
When working with Indigenous peoples, what is absolutely crucial that your treatments involve?
cultural competency
Aboriginal people perceive health ______ (rather than split mind/body view)
holisticly
Dr Tracy Westerman states that there are culture bound illnesses in Indigenous communities
What does this mean?
Everything relates back to culture
e.g. being sick for country - some symptoms disappear when returning to country
connection to land is very important - sometimes symptoms are reported to lessen when returning to country
What does being sick for country mean?
What type of illness is this?
Some negative symptoms disappear when Indigenous people return to their land.
culture-bound illness
Describe how Westerman (1997) suggests that we should build rapport using cultural competency
Should we use empirical practices that work in non-aboriginal Australian’s to treat Indigenous populations?
Not necessarily
Practices need to be culturally competent
What are 6 important things we need to make sure/account for when working with indigenous people.
Define racism
Behaviours, practices, beliefs and prejudices that underlie avoidable and unfair inequalities across groups in society based on race, ethnicity, culture or religion
What is the type of racism that exists in many institutions in Australia, including the media, the welfare system and aspects of the legal system.
Systematic racism
What kind of health outcomes can happen to people who are targeted with racism?
poor physical and mental health
depression
unhealthy behaviours: e.g. substance misuse, dropping out of physical activity and community activities, smoking etc.
What are the two types of “responses to racism” that victims of racism can have.
Inner-direction disempowered affective responses
- can be either active (e.g. shame, self-hatred, humiliation, axnxiety, fear) or passive (e.g. powerlessness, hopelessness, confusion, depression)
Outer-directed emotional responses
- Active and can be either in the empowered or disempowered mode
What is the leading cause of death from external causes for indigenous males?
suicide
What is the difference for the rates of suicide for aboriginal and non-aboriginal populations
Aboriginal suicide is 3x higher
What external factors influence Indigenous mental health?
Poverty
Experiences of racism and oppression
Dislocation
Grief/bereavement (stolen generations)
what % of indigenous adults report high or very high levels of psychological distress?
What is this in comparison to non-aboriginal?
according to the Australian Institute of Health and Wellbeing Report (2009)
over 1 quarter (27%)
2x as high as non-aboriginal
What are the guidelines from the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists for working with Indigenous Australians?
Why might interventions not be successful in indigenous communities?
- Lack of appropriate services
- Reluctance to seek help from mental health professionals if previous contact has been bad.
Treatments/interventions must be _______ ______ or perhaps provided alongside more traditional interventions in order to work
culturally appropriate
e.g. recognizing spiritual understandings of symptoms
What are some applicable interventions we can use with indigenous peoples?
Narrative therapy
‘Yarning’
In our culture, we go to a health professional that we hardly know to get help
Will this work with Indigenous populations?
Why?
No
They need to know who the person is and where they came from
Mental health is related to spirituality, family, connectedness
Where should you interview Indigenous people when assessing mental health?
More unstructured and flexible, what they feel comfortable in
Not necessarily in a clinic
How might we make sure that the assessments we have made are valid?
Using applicable tests/ making sure that people understand what is being asked of them.
