Transgenerational Trauma | Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
The purpose of this assessment is to explore the impact of “Transgenerational Trauma” in relation to “Black Lives Matter” and the ‘Closing the Gap’ (CTG) policy on Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander People’s health outcomes.
Assessment Task 3: Analysis and Discussion
- There are several things that are passed upon in families from one generation to another including grief and other dysfunctional issues. These traumas are passed down through different personality types and parenting styles (Merrit 2009). Also, these issues are not limited to offspring, but also spread to people from the community. At times the colonial past of Australia is overlooked and its impact on Aboriginals is not acknowledged. It is considered that aboriginals still feel the effect of colonisation and will continue to do so unless the cycle is broken (Merritt 2009).
The issue can be understood by looking at a recent social issue- ‘Black Lives Matter’. While the recent movement started with the death of George Floyd in the US, however, the image of a cop with his knee on the neck of George Floyd was a symbol of how black people have been treated for centuries (Jaye 2020). The image has brought out many deep-rooted emotions and many people of colour are experiencing exhaustion, anger, anxiety, and powerless due to racial injustices and inequalities. This racial trauma can result in hypervigilance, chronic stress, and depression as in recent times it is being highlighted by the media that a black person is at high risk of dying due to Covid-19 due to poverty and health inequalities. This trauma is not a recent issue due to two reasons- first, there is an unconscious bias against black people that propels negative attitudes toward black people and second, there is a systemic racism. Due to these reasons, black people had to ‘put up and shut up’ to any prejudice and micro-aggressions they faced. Second, in countries like the UK, they used to face systemic racism in many places with boards like ‘No Blacks, No Dogs, No Irish’. These traumas have also passed across generations (Jaye 2020).
- Indigenous Australia is made up of two cultural groups: mainland Aboriginal peoples and the Torres Strait Islander peoples. While Aboriginal people were largely hunters and gatherers, Torres Strait Islanders practiced agriculture beside hunting and gathering. Considering the 50,000-year history of Aboriginal people, they were colonised in recent times (three to eight previous generations of people from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living today). As the British settlement encroached into indigenous lands, there was a lot of violence and massacres, and some of these incidents are in the living memory, with the last officially sanctioned massacre being recorded in 1928 at Coniston, Northern Territory where 31 people were killed as per official records (however as per Aboriginals, over 200 people were killed) (Dudgeon et al. 2017).
According to ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics)’s National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey in 2010, it was found that 12% of respondents who were born before 1933 had personally experienced separation from their family (ABS 2010).
Thus, the colonization of Australia created trauma in indigenous communities of the country, and in many of the families, this trauma is passed from one generation to another. While the relatively younger people may not have faced colonization and other atrocities directly, however, they are exposed to trauma due to interaction with elders in the community (Dudgeon et al. 2017). Consider the example of an Indigenous woman in Australia: She got the trauma from her parents and her childhood memories. Since she is unable to forget she ended up passing on the trauma to her children through her stories, despite the fact that her children never witnessed the atrocities on their own. Aboriginal people who have experienced trauma first hand are likely to develop lifestyle diseases, engage in self-destructive behaviors, and enter into the world of crime. As a result, the younger people experience secondary trauma as a result of a dysfunctional family where substance misuse, child abuse, and family violence are an occurrence, thereby making this trauma into a transgenerational trauma for the Indigenous communities (Dudgeon et al. 2017).
Several attempts have been made to address the impact of transgenerational trauma among indigenous people including the Social Justice Report 2005 and Closing the Gap (a collaboration between Australian governments and indigenous people that is aimed at addressing the effects of transgenerational trauma through employment, health, education, and housing (Australian Indigenous HealthInfonet 2020). Some of the targets include:
- Closing the life expectancy gap by 2031
- Halving the child mortality by 2018
- Ensuring that 95% of indigenous children (below 4 years of age) are enrolled in school by 2025
- Halving the gap in attaining year 12 by 2020
- Halving the employment gap by 2018 (Australian Indigenous HealthInfonet 2020).
However, while these programs and services are important, however, they are likely to have limited impact in the long run, as the healing needs of the families and communities are still not addressed (Parter et al. 2019). Instead, there is a need for healing programs that emphasize on restoring, reaffirming, and renewing a cultural identity so that a sense of pride is developed based on connection to the participation of the community in the country. The rationale behind the healing programs is to support and empower the community to identify the problems on their own and also develop solutions on their own to heal from the trauma (Parter et al. 2019). Thus, it can be inferred that the CTG program alone cannot help in reducing transgenerational trauma in the indigenous people of Australia.
- ‘Closing the Gap’ (CTG) is an initiative by the Australian Government that is aimed at reducing the gap between Aboriginals and others in Australia in terms of improving life expectancy, reducing child mortality, easing access to education for children, providing opportunities for higher education, and increasing employment opportunities. While the overall target is for 2030, the goals are being achieved gradually as the government presents the progress on an annual basis. The realization of improvement in the wellbeing of Aboriginal is dependent on the successful implementation of these targets (Australian Indigenous HealthInfonet 2020).
Despite the fact that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have two to three times of illness levels than non-indigenous people, they spend half of what non-indigenous people spend on healthcare (Pharmacy Guild of Australia 2013). Also the high cost of medicines in Australia is a significant barrier in increasing access to healthcare for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (Pharmacy Guild of Australia 2013).
By registering with the CTG, Aboriginals have access to the low cost of PBS (Pharmaceuticals Benefits Scheme). There are many Aboriginals that are suffering from chronic diseases and are facing difficulty in managing the disease on their own primarily due to the high cost of medicines (Australian Government Services Australia 2020). The following prescribers can provide patients for CTG:
- Medical practitioner participating in the Indigenous Health Incentive in rural or urban settings
- Any medical practitioner, if the patient is eligible for the measure or is referred by a practitioner participating in the Indigenous Health Incentive (Australian Government Services Australia 2020).
The Aboriginal patient must give consent to the practitioner for registering and also verifying the patient’s eligibility for CTG prescription by using the HPOS (Health Professional Online Service). After registration, the Aboriginal client will now have access to medicines at a lower price than that prevalent in the market (Australian Government Services Australia 2020).
- The colonization of Australia led to trauma in indigenous communities of the country, and in many of the families, this trauma is passed from one generation to another. While the relatively younger people may not have faced colonization and other atrocities directly, however, they are exposed to trauma due to interaction with elders in the community (Dudgeon et al. 2017). Aboriginal people who have experienced directly as well secondary trauma are likely to develop lifestyle diseases, engage in self-destructive behaviors, misuse substance, live a dysfunctional family life, and enter into the world of crime (Dudgeon et al. 2017).
