Assessment of Trauma for Aboriginal People

Abstract

(from the preface) Raphael, Delaney, and Bonner present a historical and psychological perspective on the assessment of trauma for Australia's indigenous people, the Aboriginals. This chapter begins with an overview of the cultural and personal losses suffered by the 60,000-year-old aboriginal people, the oldest in the world. The authors point out that culture-sensitive assessment must be viewed from a perspective of collective, cumulative traumatization across in time and generations. They note that the destruction and decimation of Aboriginal culture involved a large range of traumatic stressors: loss, grief, subjugation, and being social outcasts by the colonial government. Statistics show that Aboriginal people die younger and suffer mental health problems at higher rates than non-aboriginal cultures. In terms of assessing traumatic reactions, measures of stressors of daily living show that those with seven or more life-event stressors were 5 1/2 times more likely to have significant behavioral and mental health problems. However, as with issues of assessment in culturally sensitive ways, there are currently two standardized protocols for the proper assessment of the ways that Aboriginal people process their difficult life-experiences. In terms of clinical engagement and psychosocial assessments, the authors examine several core issues in work with Aboriginal people. As pertains to trauma manifestations among Aboriginal people, the chapter details a broad set of traumatic issues such as trauma and grief, endemic training, maladaptive behavioral patterns, and the need to assess cultural transmissions of trauma constellations. Finally, the authors discuss the interplay between traumatic assessment and clinical approaches to treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved)