Aboriginal Social Work Baskin Says Aboriginal Social

Aboriginal Social Work

Baskin says Aboriginal social workers are warriors "even though many of them work in social control agencies that tokenize their cultures." How can non-Aboriginal social workers become "warriors" (allies) in the processes of decolonizing social work practices?

One does not have to be an Aboriginal social worker to understand the damaging impact of colonization and colonialism on Aborigines. In fact, any person who looks beyond the European-written history and examines the true history of Canada can easily understand the academic impact of colonization on Aboriginal populations, even if one does not have personal experience with that impact. It is important to keep in mind that one does not have to experience a personal impact of a negative event in order to be able to help others cope with the impact of that negative impact. Every day, social workers are called upon to help people deal with various social issues like addiction, domestic violence, drug abuse; and the social workers do not need to have personal experience with those issues in order to help someone deal with them. Therefore, the first thing that a non-Aboriginal social worker needs to is recognize that (s)he can be a warrior in decolonizing social work practices, even if (s)he has not personally been victimized by colonization.

The second thing that such a social worker must do is always be cognizant of the impact of colonization on social work practices. The reality is that "white" behavior is what is considered normative in society. Therefore, things that may be culturally appropriate and adaptive for natives may be considered maladaptive by white standards. Before determining that a person is in need of services or interventions, the first thing that the social worker must do is determine whether the behavior is truly maladaptive, or is only maladaptive for someone wishing to be a part of white society. Moreover, if the behavior is maladaptive, the social worker can look for culturally-relevant interventions that may be able to help the client, without stripping him of his cultural identity.

2. What does Michael Hart mean when he says that Indigenous social workers come to the social work profession only to have their neck wrung by its colonial foundation of its theory and praxis? Have you even considered this situation prior to taking this course?

Honestly, not being an Indigenous social worker, I do not know if I am qualified to respond to Michael Hart's quote. What I believe he means is that Indigenous social workers come to their position with the goal of helping Indigenous communities, but find themselves frustrated by the idea that normal is defined as white. The reality is that traditional Indigenous culture is fundamentally different from traditional white culture. A simple example of this difference would be housing; a certain amount of transcience was a normal and functional part of traditional native culture, but is considered maladaptive in normal white culture. To come into practice as a social worker and find out that some of the very cultural norms that help shape the identity of the social worker are considered maladaptive by white society and should be discouraged in clients, at least according to traditional approaches to social work, can be very dehumanizing and disenfranchising for an Indigenous social worker. What is even more alarming to me is the fact that I never even considered this situation prior to taking this course. I believed that social workers were intervening in problem behaviors, even when working in native cultures. I was not ignorant that many problems in native communities are linked to a history of colonization, but I did not consider the fact that the active impact of continued colonial practices continues to hamper these communities. Moreover, I did not consider how much the internalization of white European norms has contributed to this negative impact on Indigenous communities.

3. What can you do as social workers to reduce the risk of danger (oppression, racism and exclusion) for Aboriginal students in social work education and practice?