Aboriginals and Social Work This Course Provided

¶ … Aboriginals and Social Work

This course provided a very broad perspective of the impact Western and European cultures have an aboriginal culture. It showed how devastating these influences have been to native aboriginal cultures, generally serving to suppress them and change the shape of aboriginal culture, in some cases smothering aboriginal cultures completely. The overall impact this course had on me was allowing me to comprehend this impact on aboriginal societies and see that the Western or European way is not always the best way. This course helped provide a general framework for understanding the difficulties and challenges faced by aboriginal youths and adults. It also showed that social work must be adapted significantly to take into consideration one's cultural background because this can dramatically shape the framework of social work. If one uses a Western or European model on aboriginals, they may find themselves misaligning the model for support because they are trying to put a "square peg" in a "round hole." Aboriginals face a host of problems that social workers have to help with including racism, poverty and colonialism, which has left many aborigines without a proper sense of cultural identity. These issues are specific to each aboriginal culture and have to be dealt with uniquely. Each case should be looked at with sensitivity.

With regards to aboriginal work and social work practice, the coursework showed that social work requires that the worker immerses themselves into the culture and spirituality of the people, because conventional work practices do not work. Spirituality seems to be one of the more important issues facing social workers with regard to aboriginal culture, because it plays an important part in connecting people with their communities. For example, a counselor that specializes in dealing with poverty may have to broaden their scope of practice to address poverty specific to aboriginal cultures in a society where colonization by whites has served to blanket the true culture of that society. An aboriginal member of society may have a deep connection to the spiritual community, while this may not be true of one trying to assimilate into the white framework of a colonized society in which they live

One of lessons learned was that culture implications of social work practice differ in aboriginal environments partly because of colonization; behaviors that may appear "abnormal" may in fact be normal, but are characterized as normal or maladaptive only because natives are trying to participate as members of "white" society but this is not their true culture. Another key point learned was that the internalization of white European norms has contributed greatly to the negative impact of Indigenous communities, and this continues as continued colonial practices continue to hamper aboriginal communities.

Another challenge facing aboriginal cultures is crime and racism, often the result of factors including colonization and genocide; the readings confirm that these have impacted First Nation, Inuit and Metis youth. Crime can cause despair and self-destruction, which may destroy an aboriginal's odds for developing healthy attitudes as they grow into young adults, leaving them without a proper sense of identity and goal-setting skills which are necessary for planning well into the future. Poverty, crime, and an endless cycle of abuse can result. I found I can use this to help structure a practice which can easily identify at-risk youth by screening for these factors prior to counseling or working with this population because their needs will be more specific than traditional at-risk youth. In particular, finding programs that target aboriginal youths and focusing on diversity and acclimation to their cultural settings may be of particular benefit. Helping build a sense of community and address problems including isolation and loneliness are essential for rehabilitation and success are critical in cases like this. Other problems that are common to aboriginal youth and youths from low socio-economic classes include drug and alcohol abuse. Problems like these can easily be addressed by prevention and education strategies when combined with "mind, body, spirit" approaches that focus on total wellness rather than focusing on problem-solving techniques alone.

I think a common theme throughout the course of the study program was establishing a sense of identity particularly among Aboriginal themes. Any youth or young adult must establish a strong sense of identity to succeed. If one thinks about, low self-esteem is often the cause of many different types of psychological problems, including major depression, social anxiety disorders and suicidal ideation. This is true in aboriginal populations as much as any other population. In fact, it may be more of a problem in aboriginal problems where drug abuse and addiction may be even higher than it is even among youths living in poverty simply because statistically this is sometimes shown to be the case. It is very difficult for young people to fit in a society where they don't fit in already. To help with this, as a social worker I feel it is critical to address identity by first analyzing who an individual "thinks" they are or thinks they "should" be, and addressing this. Group work may be particularly valuable in these types of settings. Addressing the need for community identity or cultural identity within the community may also prove particularly beneficial in cases where identity is lacking or cases where colonization has knocked out the sense of personal and community self-esteem. A person must relate identity not just internally but also externally. Identity is recognition of self within self but also recognition of self related to external contexts including family, community and friends. This may include work relationships as well.