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Sexual abuse and physical abuse essay
Mental health in australian indigenous people
Sexual abuse and physical abuse essay
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My childhood trauma is on the public record. The date was 14th March 1910, I was not raised by my aboriginal mother and for this I have suffered. Right throughout my life I have been victim to abuse. When I discuss in detail these abuses to my non-aboriginal colleagues, to friends and to counselors, many of them are taken aback. Comenting on their inability to understand the depth, the extent of the trauma I have suffered from. Unfortunatley, my story is not unique. So many aboriginal people suffer the exact same. To the world I am a regular human being, but, I oftern relapse and return to the darkest days of my childhood. I would hide under my bed as a little girl escaping into a different world of fantasy similar to ‘The lion, the witch, the wardrobe- it was my only way to escape death.
The cruelties I suffered early in life were not at the hands of another Aboriginal person.
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My Aboriginal mother had a long mourned and grieved loss. We were unable to cope, and though we love each other, no ‘apology’ will ever mend the amount of scars we carry today. My introduction to my Aboriginality was difficult. I had not healed, There was the torrid antagonisation of abuse, sexual abuse, and violence. This became normal, subdued only when I was self-medicated. The music of Archie Roach, No Fixed Address, and Warumpi Band were my companions. There was though a time I couldn’t listen to Archie because of my connection to the hurt. Just recently the carriage of my trauma cost my
Some of the residential school students were so scarred from the way they were treated in the schools, that they even started putting the same abuse that they had received in the schools, onto their own children. The abuse has left the students with mental trauma and many of the students were unable to erase the memories of abuse from their minds. Many the survivors of the Canadian Residential Schools have been inflicting their children and spouses with physical abuse similar to the abuse that they had received previously in the Residential Schools. In an article talking about the victimization of aboriginals they stated, “Males who had experienced abuse as children were found to be at a significantly high risk to repeat the cycle of violence with future spouses” (Scrim as cited in McGillivray and Comaskey 1996). This sad cycle shows that even though the last Residential School closed in the late 1990’s, the experiences that students had during their time is still negatively affecting their lives today. Many of the former students of the Canadian Residential Schools have turned to substance abuse in hopes to try and cope with their struggling mental health. It is shocking to see that a school this harsh could have such long lasting impacts on its students. In an article related to helping people understand the trauma
Both Birthright and Monkey Beach show the injustices the Aboriginal community faced and still faces today. These injustices cause emotional, physical, and psychological scaring which eventually leads victims to become abusers and victimize others in the future. This victim-to-abuser cycle is noted in a study which showed that “there is positive correlation between a victim of sexual abuse and becoming a perpetrator.” (Glasser, 9) This causal effect is seen through Josh, who had been sexually abused in residential school. Josh's traumatic childhood resulted in the abused becoming the abuser when he raped his niece, Adelaine. An uncle is seen as someone who can be trusted, a member of the family; however, Josh ended up harming Adelaine. This mirrors the duality of nature in the no...
Canadians are just recently beginning to realize the detrimental aftermath of the years of trauma experienced by Indigenous peoples of Canada, such as the survivors of the residential school system. It is often difficult for these people to overcome the impact that follows. Undoubtedly, it requires help and support from others, but these people must make their personal healing journey themselves. The passages “Rock Bottom” by Steven Keewatin Sanderson and the “Legend of the Sugar Girl” by Joseph Boyden prove that although trauma can significantly undermine groups of people, they can overcome their difficulties. Both authors illustrate how trauma negatively affects characters, causes them to fall victim
...een family problems, address the lack of appropriate education initiatives, progress the development of adequate employment opportunities, and alleviate problematic self-conceptions of cultural identity are realistic endeavors, which support cooperative relationships across cultures. Fostering these circumstances through engagement that warrants features of social bonding to be achieved by providing support in a way that does not minimize the experience of Aboriginal oppression will facilitate positive social change. This results in the possibility of ameliorating the complex injustices experienced by Aboriginal peoples today that are entrenched in the conditions of the past. Ultimately, these positive advancements will enable the adoption of pro-social values and solidify an environment that subsequently inhibits Aboriginal youth from resorting to gang involvement.
Residential schools undoubtedly created detrimental inter-generational consequences. The dark legacy of residential schools has had enduring impact, reaching into each new generation, and has led to countless problems within Aboriginal families including: chemical dependence, a cycle of abuse in families, dysfunctional families, crime and incarceration, depression, grief, suicide, and cultural identity issues (McFarlan, 2000, p. 13). Therefore, the inter-generational consequence...
...s a way of coping with bad memories and changes in culture (Reser, 1991). Many Indigenous are still being affected by the events which unfolded long ago. Alcohol is consumed by many who are known to have mental disorders. Depression is a major issue within the aboriginal population with many suffering with factors like grief, shame, worry, homesickness, and anger due to the colonization and the way it has changed their everyday life, culture and environment (Reser).
For First Nations youngsters, relevant education should include education about their heritage. Where Aboriginal children are in school with other Canadians, this part of the curriculum needs to be shared generally, as self-esteem grows when an appreciation of one’s background is shared by others.
The Stolen Generation has left devastating impacts upon the Aboriginal culture and heritage, Australian history and the presence of equality experienced today. The ‘Stolen Generation’ refers to the children of Aboriginal descent being forcefully abducted by government officials of Australia and placed within institutions and catholic orphanages, being forced to assimilate into ‘white society’. These dehumanising acts placed these stolen children to experience desecration of culture, loss of identity and the extinction of their race. The destructive consequences that followed were effects of corruption including attempted suicide, depression and drug and alcohol abuse. The indigenous peoples affected by this have endured solitude for many years, this has only been expressed to the public recently and a proper apology has been issued, for the years of ignorance to the implementation of destruction of culture. The Stolen Generation has dramatically shaped Australian history and culture.
Canada prides itself on possessing a cultural mosaic, appreciating every culture within the country. The idea of the cultural mosaic strives to support an ethnically diverse nation, allowing communities to strengthen their social capital (Brown & Hannis, 2012). Unfortunately, Canadian history reveals a different story. The historical oppression of Aboriginals by the Canadian government, at a macro level, has left the entire Aboriginal culture with a sting of social stigma. Now, in an attempt to provide relief, the Canadian government has established various venues of support, addressing the issue of oppression against Aboriginal people (i.e. Thunder Bay Police Service Aboriginal Liaison Unit) (Brown & Hannis, 2012).
Genocide, assimilation, and segregation-- these are all forms of cultural and ethnic cleansing that we as Canadians do not necessarily associate with what it means to be a Canadian, rather they are terms that we associate with occurrences in distant, dangerous and abysmal places (Fleras, 2012; p. 10). However, these terms are evidently applicable to the treatment of Aboriginals during the time of European colonization of Canada. Genocide is considered to “be the most serious of punishable crimes under international law…” (Fleras, 2010; p. 11); unfortunately, genocide has been inflicted upon Aboriginals in numerous forms as they suffered a loss of cultural identity through European-colonization. Assimilation has also affected Aboriginals as through the use of residential schools, Aboriginal children were taken from their families and forced to learn the dominant white way of life and abandon their culture (Fleras, 2010; p.13). Segregation of Aboriginals has also occurred, as reserves are restricted purely for individuals with Indian citizenship, hence keeping Aboriginals separate from the dominant culture (Fleras, 2010; p. 15). There is a lack of awareness on the horrendous and disgusting treatment of the original Canadian settlers, Aboriginals, which can be partially attributed to a narrative that has helped create the image of what it means to be a Canadian, a narrative that has provided the belief that white Europeans were the first to settle on Canadian land and has painted a picture of white settlers struggling to survive on their discovered Canadian land. This narrative has been termed the ‘frontier narrative’, and it truly has shaped Aboriginals lives in Canada. This paper will provide first and foremost a clear definition o...
When faced with a life altering situation although Molly’s characteristics and personality aid her in courageously defying them, the effects of facing this traumatic event will lead to long term psychological repercussions. When severe harm is inflicted on a person’s psyche, it is viewed as an emotional trauma (Levers, 2012). The emotional harm inflicted on Molly’s psyche originates from different dimensions; like her upbringing, her trauma is multidimensional too. As a child of the Indigenous community, whose ancestors and elders were killed violently in inter-group conflicts, and whose children were forcefully removed from families, Molly is would experience intergenerational trauma (Atkinson, 2002). Intergenerational trauma is trauma passed down from one generation to another; as a close knitted community group, the grief experienced by family members of losing their loved ones, would have been transferred across generations (Atkinson,
The documentary Finding Dawn by Christine Welsh portrayed the violence and discrimination experienced by Aboriginal women and girls in Canada as a national tragedy. The national tragedy is illustrated as the overlooked murders and disappearances of an estimated 500 Aboriginal women in Canada over the past 30 years (Finding Dawn, 2006). It was apparent while viewing this documentary that embedded historical, social and economic factors have negatively contributed to this national tragedy receiving meager attention in Canada. Thus, the issues presented in Finding Dawn is in fact a representation of wider social problems correlating to issues of oppression, ethnocentrism, racism and assimilation in our society.
Racism and social disadvantage being the by-products of Australian colonisation have become reality for Aboriginal people from the early beginnings as well as being prevalent to this day. There exists a complex and strong association between racism and Aboriginal poor health, assisting in the undermining of the emotional and social wellbeing of this Indigenous group. Racism has an adverse and insidious effect upon the psychological and physical health of the Aboriginal people, as it gnaws away on the mental state of the individual, having detrimental consequence upon the standard of acceptable health in today 's modern society. The effects of this discrimination become the catalyst towards the undermining of one 's self esteem which leads to detrimental stress levels, self-negativity and having the potential
Bennett, B., Green, S., Gilbert, S., & Bessarab, D. (2013).Our Voices: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Work. South Yarra, Victoria: Palgrave Macmillan.
It was dark that night, I was nervous that this dreadful day was going to get worse. Sunday, October 23, 1998 I wanted to start writing this to tell about the weird things i’m starting to see in this new neighborhood. Gradually I keep seeing pots and pans on the sink suddenly move to the floor. I would ask my sister but she is out with my mom and dad getting the Halloween costumes. When they got home I didn’t tell them what I saw because i've seen Halloween movies and I have to have dissimulation otherwise the ghost will come out and get me first. October 24, 1998 I think I got a little nervous yesterday with the whole ghost thing. 12:32pm, Went to eat lunch with the family today and I go to get my coat. I heard the words furious and madness,