Title: A strengths based approach to Australian Aboriginal childrearing practices is the answer to better outcomes in Aboriginal family and child health
Abstract: The issues facing families today are complex and multifaceted. Issues such as poverty, child maltreatment, substance use, and the stability of families all have an impact on the development of children ( Lietz et al., 2010 Lietz C.A. Andereck K.L. Knopf R.C. The breakthrough series collaborative on service integration: A mixed methods study of a strengths-based initiative. Advances in Social Work. 2010; 11: 248-266 Google Scholar ). The issues for Australian Aboriginal families are compounded by the struggle to overcome the negative effects of the country's colonial past ( Kulhánková, 2011 Kulhánková J. Revitalization of Indigenous culture in child care centre. The Qualitative Report. 2011; 16: 464-481 Google Scholar ), the traumas associated with the ‘Stolen Generation’ ( Saggers et al., 2011 Saggers S. Walter M. Gray D. Culture, history and health. in: Thackrah R. Scott K. Indigenous Australian health and cultures. An introduction for health professionals. Pearson Australia, NSW, Australia2011: 1-21 Google Scholar ), and the fact that even this generation of Indigenous children is haunted by the legacy of the history of forceful removal of children from the homes of Indigenous families ( Ewen and McCoy, 2011 Ewen S. McCoy B. The national Apology: A new pathway forward?. in: Thackrah R. Scott K. Indigenous Australian health and cultures. An introduction for health professionals. Pearson Australia, NSW, Australia2011: 209-228 Google Scholar ). However, little has actually been documented about Aboriginal childrearing practices, confirmed by health, government and non government representatives at the Aboriginal and Torres, 2010 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people's health and wellbeing conference held at the Albert and Queen Room, The Chiefly at Lennons in Brisbane, Qld on 26th to 27th May 2010. Google Scholar held at Lennons in Brisbane, Qld on 26th to 27th May 2010, which makes it harder for non-Indigenous Australians to understand Aboriginal approaches to childrearing. There have been a few research studies ( Von Sturmer, 1980 Von Sturmer, D. E. (1980). Rights in nurturing: The social relations of childbearing and rearing amongst the KukuNganychara, Western Cape York Peninsula, Australia. Canberra: Unpublished Masters Thesis, Australian National University. Google Scholar , Hamilton, 1981 Hamilton A. Nature and nurture: Aboriginal child-rearing in north-central Arnhem Land. Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, Canberra1981 Google Scholar , Kearins, 1984 Kearins J. Child-rearing practices in Australia: Variation with life-style. University of Western Australia, Perth1984 Google Scholar ) that have described Aboriginal childrearing practices; in addition to this are the contemporary works of professionals such as Aboriginal Professor Helen Milroy (UWA) in Aboriginal Child and Adolescent Health, Prof. Robyn Penman, who conducted the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children, along with various other Aboriginal community organisations that provide Aboriginal family services. These studies provide seminal sources to inform the development of Aboriginal family service delivery. However there appears to have been a period of disengagement in the process of bringing together Aboriginal community knowledge and research based knowledge to inform family support policy development and services by governments that are acceptable and accessible to Aboriginal families.
Publication Year: 2011
Publication Date: 2011-09-01
Language: en
Type: editorial
Indexed In: ['crossref', 'pubmed']
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 47
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