Workshop/Workbook 7

Question 1

Why is race a social construct?

Answer 1

• ‘races’ are formed not because of science or fact, but because of power and social opinion
• It is used to classify people based on supposed physical and cultural similarities deriving from their common descent
• Biologically, the human species shares a common gene pool, and there is much more genetic variation within each so-called racial group than between them

Question 2

What is racism? What are the different types of racism?

Answer 2

Racism: a prejudice, discrimination or hostility against someone of a different race, with the perception that one’s race is superior than the other

Types of racism:

Individual:
- when someone expresses negative attitudes towards someone else of a different race (e.g. degrading comments, hate crimes)

Institutional:
- actions by institutions that systematically privilege one group over another (e.g. policies and practices in education and health)

Cultural:
- viewing the culture of a minority group as the cause of their disadvantage, and ignoring individual and institutional factors (e.g. believing that poverty is caused by cultural practices of a certain group)

Environmental:
- policies and practices that disproportionately affect certain population groups in relation to living and health (e.g. inadequate living conditions with limited access to clean water and electricity and lack of plumbing, negatively impacting health and well-being)

Question 3

What are the three most significant medical conditions amongst Aboriginal people?

Answer 3

• Diabetes
• Heart disease
• Renal failure

Question 4

What are some stressors relevant to Aboriginal well-being?

Answer 4

• Discrimination and racism
• Physical health problems
• Child removals and unresolved trauma
• Violence and family violence
• Death of family members or friends
• Substance and/or alcohol use social and economic factors (education, employment, income, housing).

Question 5

What are some prompts for social and emotional well-being?

Answer 5

• Biology: Key biological processes form an important determinant of social and emotional wellbeing (e.g. milestones like crawling, walking, talking etc.
• Expectations: The social and emotional capacities in children are prompted by parent expectations
  about the capacities of their children, along with requests (e.g. expectation of certain milestones in a child’s life, asking them to clean after themselves etc.)
• Opportunities: The social, emotional and cognitive development of children is promoted by the opportunities they have to engage in stimulating activities (e.g. talking, interacting with others, playing)

Question 6

What are some facilitators for social and emotional well-being?

Answer 6

• Intellectual flexibility: intellectual flexibility and an outgoing personality, easy temperament and
  tolerance of new situations facilitate social and emotional well-being
• Good language development: e.g. speech problems increase the risk of clinically significant emotional or
  behavioural difficulties in children
• Emotional support: e.g. encouragement in the face of difficulty, support in failure, and celebration of success
  can aid the development of secure relationships with their parents and their longer-term social
  development

Question 7

What are some constraints for social and emotional well-being?

Answer 7

• Stress: circumstances or conditions that threaten, challenge, exceed or harm the psychological or biological capacities of the individual
• Chaos: e.g. violence, abuse, harsh parenting, physical punishment, bullying
• Social exclusion: racism, bullying or other experiences that entail refusals of friendship and non-recognition
• Racism: affects both physical health (e.g. racism through limited access to services) and mental well-being (e.g. individual racism, mean comments)
• Social inequality: lack of resources and lack of access to services and diminished self-efficacy constrains social and emotional well-being