Race and Ethnicity Commons^™

Aboriginal Health Consumers Experiences Of An Aboriginal Health Curriculum Framework, Petah Atkinson, Marilyn Baird, Karen Adams

Australian Indigenous HealthBulletin

Introduction

In settler colonised countries medical education is situated in colonist informed health systems. This form of colonisation is characterised by overt racism and contributes to the significant health inequities experienced by Indigenous peoples. Not surprisingly, medical accreditation bodies in these countries have mandated the curriculum include content relating to Indigenous peoples. However, what is absent is the Indigenous health consumer worldview of health care and their nuanced lived experience of the delivery of medical care.

Methods

Yarning methods, integral to Aboriginal peoples’ ways of understanding and learning, were utilised. A Yarning guide was constructed with Social Yarn and Research …

'We Cannot Heal What We Will Not Face': Dismantling The Cultural Trauma And The May '98 Riots In Rani P Collaborations' Chinese Whispers, Alberta Natasia Adji, Marcella Polain

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

In May 1998, ethnic riots and widespread sexual violence occurred in several major Indonesian cities. Chinese-Indonesians were targeted and, since then, there has been an interest in feminist visual art created by Chinese-Indonesian diaspora in Australia. This article explores Chinese Whispers, a digital graphic novel by Rani Pramesti, a Chinese-Javanese-Indonesian actor and Melbourne-based performance maker, and her team of Indonesian-Australian collaborators. Applying solemn imagery, it narrates a young woman’s attempts at understanding cultural trauma that has marked both personal and public identities of Chinese-Indonesians. Imbued with black-and-white illustrations and interview transcripts, the digital graphic novel tries to answer questions …

Breaking The Silence: Insights Into The Lived Experiences Of Wa Aboriginal/Lgbtiq+ People: Community Summary Report 2021, Braden Hill, Bep Uink, Jenny Dodd, Dameyon Bonson, Anne-Marie Eades, Sian Bennett

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The ‘Breaking the Silence’ research project is one of the first to focus on the unique experiences of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander LGBTIQ+ people living in Western Australia. Research focusing on the intersection of Indigeneity and gender/sexual diversity is severely lacking in Australia. This is the first survey to comprehensively capture the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTIQ+ Western Australians. Previously, major research pertaining to LGBTIQ+ Australians rarely just focused on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander same sex attracted or gender variant individuals (Bonson, 2017; Dudgeon, et. al., 2017; Growing Up Queer, 2014; Hill, et. al., 2021; …

Breaking The Silence: Insights From Wa Services Working With Aboriginal/ Lgbtiq+ People: Organisations Summary Report 2021, Braden Hill, Bep Uink, Jenny Dodd, Dameyon Bronson, Anne-Marie Eades, Sian Bennett

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The ‘Breaking the Silence’ research project is one of the first to focus on the unique experiences of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander LGBTIQ+ people living in Western Australia. The report presents the first phase of a twopart research project that explores how a range of health, social support and education organisations respond to the needs of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, living in Western Australia and identifying as LGBTIQ+. This report presents the findings of focus groups, interviews and surveys with staff employed within a range of organisations that work closely with Aboriginal and/or LGBTIQ+ individuals. The discussion …

The Weave Of Youth Writing: Refiguring Authorship And Self-Representation In Michaela Deprince’S Collaborative Archive Of Life Narrative Texts, Alberta Natasia Adji

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Young people have to struggle in navigating the complex cultural and socio-political frameworks of production if they would like to reclaim agency and legitimacy to voice their aspirations. This article focuses on questions of authorship and self-representation in both the traditional and digital life writing texts created by and produced for Sierra-Leonean-American ballet dancer Michaela DePrince, which turns out to be highly mediated by her Jewish Caucasian adoptive mother Elaine DePrince. I argue that the manners of Michaela’s collaborative archive of life narrative projects–which bring about issues of authorship–have conformed her self-representation to particular identity frames in terms of race, …

Understanding The Structure And Processes Of Primary Health Care For Young Indigenous Children, Natalie Strobel, Kimberley Mcauley, Veronica Matthews, Alice Richardson, Jason Agostino, Ross Bailie, Karen Edmond, Dan Mcaullay

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

INTRODUCTION: Primary health care organisations need to continuously reform to more effectively address current health challenges, particularly for vulnerable populations. There is growing evidence that optimal health service structures are essential for producing positive outcomes.

AIM: To determine if there is an association between process of care indicators (PoCIs) for important young indigenous child health and social issues and: (i) primary health-care service and child characteristics; and (ii) organisational health service structures.

METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study of 1554 clinical child health audits and associated system assessments from 74 primary care services from 2012 to 2014. Composite PoCIs were …

Resources, Race And Rights: A Case Study Of Native Title And The Adani Carmichael Coal Mine, Kate Arnautovic

Theses : Honours

This thesis examines the extent to which state institutions and government have taken into account Indigenous rights and interests during the approval process for a large mining development. This case study focuses on the various phases of approval for the proposed Adani Carmichael Coal Mine, a significant development that has challenged the native title system in Australia. It assesses the extent to which the rights and interests of the Wangan and Jagalingou people, the traditional owners that possess a native title claim over the region, have been upheld by the National Native Title Tribunal and the State and Federal Government. …

Chinese Diaspora And Western Australian Nature (Perth Region): A Study Of Material Engagement With The Natural World In Diasporic Culture, Li Chen

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Based on an ethnographic study of the everyday practices of diasporic Chinese residents of Perth, this project focuses on the relationship between the ecologic environment and diasporic Chinese cultures in contemporary Western Australia.

With the acceleration of globalization, studies in diaspora have increasingly absorbed geographic ideas. Research on the relationship between ecology and humankind has thrown new light on discussions of diaspora. However, there are few in-depth studies addressing the construction of diasporic place and space with an engagement of the material world. Considering the relative absence of the natural world as a serious subject in contemporary diaspora studies, the …

Engaging Australian Aboriginal Narratives To Challenge Attitudes And Create Empathy In Health Care: A Methodological Perspective, Toni D. Wain, Moira Sim, Dawn Bessarab, Donna Mak, Colleen Hayward, Cobie Rudd

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background:

Unconscious bias and negative attitudes towards minority groups have detrimental effects on the way health care is, or is not, provided to these groups. Recognition of racist attitudes and behaviours as well as understanding clients' experiences of health and health care are pivotal to developing better health care strategies to positively impact on the quality and safety of care provided to Indigenous people. Indigenous research demands inclusive research processes and the use of culturally appropriate methodologies. This paper presents a methodological account of collecting narratives which accurately and respectfully reflect Aboriginal Australians' experiences with health care in Western Australia. …

A Healthy Dose Of Race? White Students’ And Teachers’ Unintentional Brushes With Whiteness, Samantha Schulz, Jennifer Fane

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper reports on efforts by three Australian academics to develop students’ sociocultural awareness (in particular, their racial literacy) during a time of mounting pressure on teacher educators to narrow and standardise their approaches. The field of health education provides a vehicle for research; however, it is not the paper’s central foci. Of key concern is the development of a critical disposition in students – a disposition geared toward teaching for social equity. Learning of this nature transcends topic domains, and therefore allows for collaboration between academics in different parts of teacher education. Specifically, the paper focuses upon ‘whiteness’ and …

Voices Of Migrant Women: The Mediating Role Of Resilience On The Relationship Between Acculturation And Psychological Distress, Min Ing Loh, Jessica Klug

Research outputs 2012

There is limited research on the experience of migrant women’s acculturation to Australian society. This paper outlines a two-part study that attempted to address this gap (i) by investigating the acculturation experiences of a sample of 30 women in Brisbane and (ii) a survey of 108 women in Brisbane and Sydney who have migrated to Australia after the age of fifteen. Results indicated that, while many migrant women experienced a number of acculturation challenges related to their status as ‘migrants’ and as ‘women’, many displayed resilience and developed competencies in acculturating themselves to a new country. Although acculturation to a …

Speaking In Thai, Dreaming In Isan: Popular Thai Television And Emerging Identities Of Lao Isan Youth Living In Northeast Thailand, Catherine Hesse-Swain

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This is an ethnographic study of how Lao Isan youth living in the northeastern provincial capital Khon Kaen and nearby town Mahasarakham experience Thainess or khwampenthai in its most popular form – television. People who inhabit the northeast of Thailand interchangeably label themselves and are labelled by others as Isan, Thai Isan, Lao Isan, Thai or Lao, depending on the ethnic, political, social or familial nuances of any given situation. I use the term Lao Isan to refer specifically to Isan people of Lao origin or ethnicity. Lao Isan are subject to complex and often competing notions of Isanness, Laoness …

A Novel - The Dues Of St Fitticks: And Essay - Paying Your Dues In The Lucky Country: Anglo-Celtic Australian Attitudes To Migrants, Michael Armstrong

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Through the medium of the novel and an accompanying essay, this project explores the relationship, particularly since the end of World War II, between the dominant (Anglo-Celtic) and non-dominant Australian cultural groups. I argue that upholding the dominance of Anglo-Celtic culture, particularly as a centre or “core” of Australian identity, is discriminatory and detrimental to the development of Australian society in general and the goal of multiculturalism in particular. Moreover, I question the thesis that Australia can have a “core” culture without marginalising the groups that do not reside within it. Instead of projecting Anglo-Celtic culture as the archetypal Australian …

Factors That Influence Perception Of Seriousness Of Crime : The Application Of Race, Type Of Offence And Dispositional Empathy To An Australian Context, Giselle Larkins

Theses : Honours

The perception of seriousness of crime may be altered by numerous extra-legal factors within the criminal justice system. It is of significant importance to understand the ways in which various factors contribute to the differential treatment of defendants. Prejudicial attitudes towards Indigenous people pervade all areas of Australian society, including the criminal justice system (Paradies, 2005). For instance, although Indigenous people form approximately 2.4% of the general Australian population, they contribute to 24% of the total prison population (ABS, 2007; Paradies). Despite this, few studies have actively sought to better understand the factors that may contribute to varied perceptions of …

What Role Can Indigenous Child Care Training Play In Ameliorating Disadvantage For Indigenous People?, Susan Teather

Theses : Honours

The early years of children's lives are vitally important to their long term outcomes. Yet, in Australian, not all children have access to the same opportunities to enhance their development and achieve their fullest potential, as Australian Indigenous children experience considerable disadvantage in comparison to other Australian children. The multifaceted approach required to eliminate this disadvantage, and the associated oppression, has education central to it. Emancipatory education is powerful as it assists learners to develop skills and, within the context of the educational philosopher Freire, also develop their ability to confront their oppression. This research paper explores Indigenous child care …

Perceptions Of Security And Attitudes Towards Cultural Diversity And Immigration Amongst Uk Migrants In Western Australia, Nikki Isaacson

Theses : Honours

Psychological research conducted within the field of ethnic relations has revealed a strong relationship between an individual's perception of threat to their ethnocultural group and their attitudes towards the entrance and presence of other ethnocultural groups within a society. The relationship is such that the greater threat that an individual perceives, the more likely they are to hold negative attitudes. This paper provides a review of research that has investigated this relationship; revealing that although a distinct negative correlation exists between perceived threat and intercultural attitudes, a number of factors influence the relationship. Factors discussed throughout this review include the …

A Descriptive Study Of Ethical Procedures That Maintain Cultural Security When Conducting Health Research With Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander School Children In Western Australia, Dionne Paki

Theses : Honours

Cultural security is the maintenance of values and beliefs and the celebration of diversity unique to different cultures. This honours thesis developed a proposed framework to guide collaborative ethics procedures that demonstrate the Aboriginal values relevant to health research for use in Western Australia (WA). These values of reciprocity, respect, equality, responsibility, survival and protection, and spirit and integrity have been identified in the National Health and Medical Research Council's Values and Ethics: Guidelines for Ethical Conduct in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Research. Ethical procedures for maintaining cultural security when conducting health research among Aboriginal people throughout Australia …

The Sources And Nature Of Social Representations In A Multicultural Peer Group : Implications For Friendship And Inter-Group Relationships, Christina Callow

Theses : Honours

The historical, political and social nature of Australian society provides a backdrop for the ways in which exclusion and inclusion are perpetuated. It is from within this context adolescent identity development and relationship formation occurs. While there is a wealth of literature focussing on inter-group relationships and adolescent development, very little research has focussed on the implications of the wider context on everyday social knowledge, or social representations, held by adolescents in a multicultural peer group. Using social representation theory, this study investigated the social representations adolescents held in relation to ethnic, cultural and national identity. It also investigated the …

Picturing A Postcolonial Australia : Breaking The 'White' Norm In Contemporary Creative Practice, Rebekah Rousi

Theses : Honours

This dissertation is about addressing social issues relating to colonial encounters from the perspective of a 'White' colonial Australian artist. The discussion seeks to address representational imbalances which occur within image construction as the result of a history of Imperial investment in defining the 'civilised Self against the non-European 'primitive Other' (Said, 1978). The label 'White' is analysed in terms of its contradictions and generalisations, where it is linked to a culturally assumed 'Self' positioning of human centrality and neutrality. This centrality (humanity) was used by Imperialists to justify reasoning behind colonial expansion. The thriving mechanisms of Euro-centric perception are …

An Exploratory Study Of Constructive Differentiation By Managers Of Multi-Ethnic Workforces In Indonesia And Malaysia, M. A. Fergusson-Stewart

Theses : Honours

Indonesia and Malaysia are two of Australia's closest geographical neighbours and represent major trading partners; Malaysia, as one of the economic success stories of Southeast Asia and Indonesia, as the third most populous nation in the world are politically and economically of great significance to business in Australia. Both have experienced racial rioting, the former as recently as 1998, and the later in 1969. Much of the tension that has led to these riots centres around the relationship between the ethnic Chinese communities in these countries and the other ethnic groups, particularly the Pribumi in Indonesia and the Bumiputera in …

John Forrest: Western Australia Under The Banyan Tree, Zoë Janina Yökki Joy Trotman

Theses : Honours

This story is about a man named John Forrest, my great-great-great uncle. I want to Investigate how he shaped and enacted upon the space we now call the State of Western Australia: as explorer, as surveyor, and as Premier. The photographs in my thesis explore how he impacted upon the landscape that we currently observe: they illustrate ways in which his past influence can be detected in the landmarks of our state, and they act as evidence of the “bigger picture”, demonstrating the effects his influence has had on the present condition of the land itself. Forrest helped construct many …

Assimilation, Theory, Policy And Practice : The Native Welfare Council's Experiment In Preparing Aboriginal Families At Allawah Grove For Assimilation 1961-1968, Angela Lapham

Theses : Honours

In the late 1950s, a community of Aboriginal people had formed a camp at ‘Allawah Grove' in South Guildford, Perth. The public and the Western Australian Government considered them a nuisance, and wished to remove them from the area. But in 1960, a voluntary organization known as the Native Welfare Council offered to provide the Allawah Grove residents with supervision, housing and training. Their aim was to equip residents with the knowledge and skills that would enable them to live successfully as nuclear families in mainstream society. In the 1960s Aboriginal welfare policy was informed by social assimilation theory. Governments …

Pearson's Paradox : An Emergent Social Reality, Anthony Dews

Theses : Honours

In his speech The Light on the Hill Noel Pearson criticises the nature of contemporary social reality in Australia. In his view this social reality is co-dependent in portraying Indigenous Australians as victims and non-Indigenous Australians as guilty. The result has been the generation of a welfare mentality to the structural disadvantage of Indigenous Australians. I conclude that the debate Pearson has initiated is ongoing. This debate has adopted ideological overtones consistent with emphases on individual and community development and these emphases are emerging in policy. However I suggest that governments are seeking to divest responsibility for individual and community …

Psychological Sense Of Community In Jewish Adolescents Of Perth, Western Australia, Darren M. Stein

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This paper explores Psychological Sense of Community (PSC) in the Jewish adolescent population of Perth. The main aim was to investigate the differences between student attending the private Jewish School (Carmel) or another school within the metropolitan area. Participants were recruited from Carmel School, W A Maccabi (Jewish sport club) and by using a snowball sampling technique. The total sample included 167 students (60 males and 107 females) in years 10, II and 12. Participants' PSC was assessed by the modified Sense of Community Index (SCI). Results showed significantly higher PSC in Carmel students (ᵽ< .05), males (ᵽ< .01) and Somewhat observant individuals (ᵽ< .0 I). No relationship was found between PSC and whether one lived in the central Jewish suburbs. The relationship between PSC and length of time lived in the community was not a positive, linear one as expected. Results that were contrary to those in the literature may be effected by the community's traditional gender stereotypes and high numbers of migrants. Limitations of the study and implications for future research are discussed.

Research Problem: What Are The Differences Between Wadjela And Nyungar Criteria When Assessing Organisational Effectiveness Of Non-Government Human Service Organisations?, Keith Truscott

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Wadjela and Nyungar experts (of managerial, administrative, service staff), from the same South-West city location in Western Australia were randomly chosen from the non-government human service field for separate workshops and asked the question “what makes a non-government human service organisation effective?" The purpose was to compare the group consensus answer between the two separate workshop groups. The Nyungars are the Indigenous people in the South-West of Western Australia and the Wadjelas are the Non-Indigenous people living in the same area. The results listed five criteria, in order of priority that made non-government human service organisations effective. For the Wadjela …

The Perception Of Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Values : Is Value Incongruence Related To Social Distance?, Lauren Jennifer Breen

Theses : Honours

This review examines prejudicial actions directed towards outgroups as a function of personal values and the perception of the values held by other groups. Prejudice is a result of social and cognitive categorisation. Although it is well learned, prejudice is not inevitable, if individuals attend to and control their prejudicial thoughts. Pleasurable interaction, cooperation, equal status, and making humanitarian values conspicuous serve to reduce intergroup conflict. It was proposed that values motivate approach and avoidance behaviours directed at outgroups, and both belief congruence theory and expectance-value theory arc relevant in explaining such behaviour.

Bicultural Involvement And Psychological Well-Being In Second Generation Chinese Migrants In Australia, Denise A. Kensit

Theses : Honours

The present study, a replication of Szapocnik, Kurtines and Fernandez's (1980) study, measured the relationship between bicultural involvement and psychological wellbeing for second generation (i.e. born in Australia) Chinese migrants in Perth, Western Australia. Ninety volunteers participated in the study. They were all Australian citizens, over l 8 years of age, and spoke English. Two studies were conducted. Firstly, four volunteers participated in semi-structured interviews to provide a context to data yielded from the quantitative study. Secondly, eighty-six second generation migrants (i.e. born in Australia) completed a questionnaire that included the Bicultural Involvement Questionnaire (B1Q) and the General Health Questionnaire, …

Behavioural Contexts For The Expression Of Modern Racism: The Simulated Juror Paradigm, Murray Riggs

Theses : Honours

The central tenet of modem racism theory is that, although overt prejudice seems to have declined, subtle forms of prejudice are still pervasive. The theory predicts that members of a majority racial group will discriminate against members of a minority racial group only when they feel that they can do so without appearing to be prejudiced. Thus, the occurrence of discrimination depends upon the nature of the behavioural context. The purpose of the present study was to explore the implications of modern racism theory in the behavioural domain by employing the simulated juror paradigm. The participants, 338 randomly selected residents …

Aboriginal People With Disability And Their Use Of Advocacy: A Phenomenological Approach, E. A. Leipoldt

Theses : Honours

The reasons for an apparent low use of advocacy agencies in Perth by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have a disability, in a context of high vulnerability, were investigated. A high incidence of disability exists amongst this group. No previous research in this area has been conducted. Nine Aboriginal people with disability were interviewed about their experiences with regard to their disabilities and any need for advocacy. This study used a qualitative, phenomenological approach as its conceptual framework, including also, a minor quantitative component. The quantitative component consisted of a brief survey of Perth-based disability advocacy agencies. It …

The Causes And Consequences Of Interactions Between Aboriginal And Non-Aboriginal Primary School Children From The Perspective Of Their Parents, Catherine M. Brennan

Theses : Honours

Racism is found in all societies but is a particular problem in post-colonial immigrant majority societies where the indigenous population have been dispossessed of their land and experience social injustices. Aboriginal people are the most disadvantaged group in Australian society and despite the current policies of self-determination and cultural pluralism they remain at the bottom of all social indicators. The aim of this study is to examine the causes and consequences of racism against Aboriginal children from the perspective of their parents. To do this a case-study of seven Aboriginal parents with primary school aged children was undertaken to see …