assignment 3 ISWK2006

docx

School

Laurentian University *

*We aren’t endorsed by this school

Course

2006

Subject

Anthropology

Date

Dec 6, 2023

Type

docx

Pages

Uploaded by DeanOxideButterfly282

HEALING AND WELLNESS: RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS 1 Concept of Healing and Wellness: Residential Schools Veronica Adebayo (0415199) Department of Indigenous Social Work. ISWK 2006: Indigenous Social Welfare Issues. Prof. Michelle Kennedy. July 15, 2022.

HEALING AND WELLNESS: RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS 2 Introduction This essay will examine the generational effects of the Residential School System, its history, its positive and negative impacts on Canada's Indigenous people, the necessity of offering culturally appropriate services, the programs in place to assist survivors and their families, and the Indigenous people. Recognizing the indigenous healing process is crucial to achieving a good life. Effects of the Residential School System Residential schools are a broad educational system that was established by the Canadian government and managed by churches with the explicit and more harmful goals of indoctrinating Indigenous children into Euro-Canadian and Christian lifestyles and assimilating them into the country's preponderantly white society. Indigenous children in Canada were taken from their homes and villages and put in institutions known as residential schools for more than a century, from the middle of the 1800s to 1996. Churches and the federal government collaborated to manage and operate these schools. From their families, little children as young as four or five years old were abducted. Over 150,000 children who attended these schools were forcibly silenced from using their native tongues and engaging in their culture, and most of them endured extreme neglect and misery, which had long-lasting effects on their health. (Hanson et al., 2020) The legacy of residential schools has been demonstrated to have generational and long-lasting consequences on the mental and physical health of Indigenous people in Canada. Residential schools were greatly influenced by the idea that the only things that could prepare Indians for a life without being Indians were Christianity, seclusion, and education during the post- Confederation era. The federal government was persuaded to use missionary organizations in the delivery of Aboriginal education by their involvement in educational endeavors and strong

HEALING AND WELLNESS: RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS 3 campaigning on their behalf. Given that the federal government funded residential schools, missionary organizations took the opportunity to use state financing to further their influence. (Neu & Therrien, 2003). Residential schools have a long history in Canada. The first residences in New France were constructed by Catholic missionaries to offer care and education. However, colonial governments were unable to persuade Indigenous people to attend schools because First Nations people were largely independent, and Europeans relied on them for survival on the economic and military fronts. (Miller. J. 2021). Many children experienced physical, sexual, psychological, and/or spiritual abuse while attending the schools, in addition to the cultural and social repercussions of being forcibly uprooted. Health issues, addictions, greater fatality/suicide rates, and criminal behavior are some long-term effects of these experiences. A growing body of evidence suggests that, despite the negative effects experienced by former students at Residential Schools, their offspring are also more likely to suffer from ill health. (Bombay et al., 2014). The forced integration strategy, according to the children who were traumatized by their Residential School experiences, has led to the widespread loss, including loss of identity, language, family, and culture. According to research by Indian Affairs, the residential school systems were places of disease, malnutrition, overcrowding, and despair, and more than 40% of the teaching staff had no formal training. (Aboriginal Healing Foundation, 2004). The long-term impacts of their residential school experiences have left many former students with severe mental problems. These include, among other things, a rise in the prevalence of suicide and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as well as heightened feelings of anger, despair, and low self-esteem. One of the effects of the Residential School system is the family structure. In residential schools, parenting practices that prioritized retribution, brutality,

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

HEALING AND WELLNESS: RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS 4 intimidation, and control were prevalent. Since they have minimal exposure to loving family environments to draw from, generations of residential school survivors suffer from residual trauma. Now that they are adults, many people find it challenging to raise their own children. The high rates of family violence and abuse against domestic partners are a result of these dysfunctional family systems. Less than 8% of children in Canada under the age of 14 are Indigenous yet make up more than 52% of the children in the care of child welfare agencies. (Menzies, P. 2020). Systems for the care of children in the provinces and territories arose as residential schools started to close. The "60s Scoop" maintained the practice of removing Aboriginal children from their families and sending them to residential schools but did so by placing them in foster homes or on adoption waiting lists. Many victims indicate that when they returned to their communities, in addition to suffering significant trauma, they also had limited services at their disposal to help them cope with their experiences, and they had missed out on practicing parenting, wellness, and good health behavior as well as creating their own cultural coping methods. The child welfare system later singled out many survivors for conditions of deprivation and neglect that were a direct outcome of their time spent in these institutions, the injustices, and prejudices that supported the Residential School System continued within the child welfare system. In Canada, the Indigenous families and communities, trauma is disproportionately represented. Intergenerational trauma has been left behind by the removal of the Indigenous people from their lands and resources, the implantation of foreign land use and governance systems (including the reserve system and band form of governance), the Residential School System, and the Indigenous child welfare system. (Schiffer, J.J. 2016).

HEALING AND WELLNESS: RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS 5 The system of residential schools has many detrimental effects on Indigenous people but little to no beneficial ones. The children were taught to read, speak, and write English even though they were made to leave their families and give up their native tongues. They were also taught things that were completely at odds with their culture and traditions. Various negative effects of the residential school system include, but are not limited to, worsened overall and self-rated health, elevated rates of chronic and infectious diseases, and effects on mental and emotional well-being such as mental distress, depression, addictive behaviors, and substance abuse, stress, and suicidal behavior. (Wilk et al., 2017). Throughout their time at the school, survivors of the Residential School system may have gone through a wide variety of traumas. Post-traumatic stress disorder sufferers do not gradually feel better on their own; in fact, their symptoms may worsen with time. Reliving the traumatic incident is one of the three primary PTSD symptom categories (i.e., flashbacks, nightmares, intense distress, upsetting memories), avoiding or numbing from the trauma's recollection (such as forgetting certain details of the experience, feeling emotionally disconnected, or having suicidal thoughts), an increase in anxiety and emotional reactivity (such as restless sleep, trouble focusing, being on high alert, and feeling jumpy). (Restoule et al., 2013). Additionally, it was discovered that residential schools were a predictor of obesity in younger Métis boys and girls but not in older girls. Attendance at residential schools has also been associated with chronic illnesses, poorer sexual health, and infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS and STIs. Additionally, it has been discovered to be a risk factor for the hepatitis C virus alone. (Wilk et al., 2017). A comprehensive and multifaceted approach to healing and well-being is required to stop the intergenerational cycle of trauma. The practice of colonialism, which denigrates Indigenous customs and traditions, is the basis of the guilt that many indigenous people are experiencing.

HEALING AND WELLNESS: RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS 6 Addressing the symptoms of trauma and the healing and reconstruction of people, families, and communities are the main goals of treating the intergenerational cycle of trauma. Medical and psychosomatic conditions, mental health issues, post-traumatic stress disorder, cultural effects such as modifications to spiritual practices, the loss of languages and traditional knowledge, social outcomes such as violence and suicide, as well as the impact on gender roles, childrearing, and family relationships, are just a few of the long-lasting results of residential schools. In addition, residential schools' social, cultural, and spiritual effects are usually related to physical, mental, and emotional health. (Wilk et al., 2017). The most often mentioned aspect of health where residential school attendance had an effect was mental health, particularly emotional well-being. Attendance at residential schools personally and across the generations was linked to mental health problems such as mental stress, depression, addictive behaviors, substance abuse, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts and actions, those affected by residential schools have also been found to engage in substance misuse and compulsive behaviors frequently. The health and wellbeing of Indigenous peoples are impacted by a wide variety of interrelated contributing factors, including colonization, residential schools, racism and marginalization, intergenerational trauma, land dispossession, loss of language and culture, child detention, overrepresentation in the criminal justice system, and other socioeconomic factors. (BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres, 2020). From an Indigenous perspective, physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing are all parts of one's overall health and wholeness. The holistic approach acknowledges that each person's family, community, and country are all part of the larger wellness ecosystem that starts with them. It also considers the wellness-related social, cultural, economic, and environmental aspects. When approaching wellness holistically, one must consider the various factors and how

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

HEALING AND WELLNESS: RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS 7 they interact to affect one's total welfare, either directly or indirectly. Proximal, intermediate, and distal factors have all been recognized as different types of health determinants. For example, education, employment, income, and food security are proximal factors that directly impact one's physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. This encompasses physical factors like housing shortages and overcrowding and health behaviors like poor diet, heavy smoking, or alcohol usage. Intermediate factors include infrastructure, resources, and capacity in healthcare, education, and environmental stewardship. They are the root causes of proximal factors. Finally, the more general political, economic, and social settings, such as colonialism, racism, and self- determination, are considered distal determinants. The greatest significant impact on Indigenous peoples' wellbeing comes from distal determinants. (BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres, 2020). Healing and Wellness Initiatives The Indigenous Spirituality and Healing Processes. Reclaiming one's identity is crucial to healing after experiencing residential school abuse and its generational effects. Traditional medical practices can further this recovery of traditional culture, which can involve individual and collective values. Traditional medicine is the umbrella term for all theories, beliefs, and methods used to maintain health and help prevent, identify, and cure physical and mental illness more effectively across all cultures, whether they can be rationalized. Traditional healing consists of various practices, ranging from promoting psychological and spiritual well-being through ceremony, counseling, and the accumulated wisdom of Elders to physical cures employing herbal medicines and other remedies. Indigenous spirituality, which is founded on the values of respect, honor, sharing, and acceptance, cannot be separated from traditional healing practices. The Indigenous peoples have been maintained by

HEALING AND WELLNESS: RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS 8 this spirituality throughout their history, including before residential schools were established. The Indigenous peoples-specific substance misuse programs are helpful when they pay attention to culture and traditional healing. (Marsh et al., 2015). The Seeking Safety Counseling Program The Seeking Safety program strongly emphasizes values like respect, caring, wholeness, and self-healing to improve participants' coping skills and lower their risk of relapsing. Participants strive to lessen suicidal and self-harming thoughts and the impulse and desire to engage in risky behavior. To feel in control and heal, they also try to end unhealthy relationships. The main objectives of treatment in Seeking Safety are to abstain from drugs and alcohol and to learn coping mechanisms to ensure personal safety. The Seeking Safety model is distinctive in that it promotes spiritual discussions by presenting a philosophical quotation at the start of the treatment's group sessions, in contrast to conventional Western treatment programs that emphasize a medical model or exclude the aspects of treatment. (Marsh et al., 2015). The Aboriginal Healing Foundation. From 1998 to 2014, an indigenously run non-profit organization called the Aboriginal Healing Foundation was in operation. It was established due to the federal government's $350 million pledge to develop a "Healing Strategy" in 1998 to deal with the legacy of residential schools. The Foundation's mission was to sponsor numerous related projects and do research to create and support community-based healing initiatives. (Filice, M.,2022). By enabling Indigenous people and their communities to take care of themselves, providing resources for healing initiatives, raising awareness of healing needs and problems, and developing a comprehensive, accepting community, the Aboriginal Healing Foundation promotes the healing process. They encourage

HEALING AND WELLNESS: RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS 9 Canadians to follow the path of reconciliation while also encouraging Canadians to support Survivors in coming out about their actual experiences. (Aboriginal Healing Foundation, 2022). Suicide Intervention and Prevention. Suicidal behaviors are planned actions and thoughts to take one's own life. Usually, they involve thinking about ending one's life, hurting oneself, or making possibly lethal suicide attempts. Additionally, it seems that more Indigenous Canadians than non-Indigenous Canadians consider suicide. Social stresses or stressful life experiences, as well as biological, familial, psychological, and societal factors, are some of the reasons for suicide. Multiple risk factors increase the likelihood of suicide in a community and can lead individuals down risky accumulative pathways that end in suicidal behavior. When compared to their contemporaries whose parents or grandparents did not attend residential school, research on the children and grandchildren of residential school survivors, for instance, shows that these generations have a higher frequency of psychological distress and suicidal behaviors. In addition, traumatic losses of family members and friends and exposure to suicide among peers and community members add to community and family mourning and raise the risk of suicide among young people. Interventions outside mental health treatment are necessary for suicide prevention and mental wellness. It is crucial that attempts to address suicide be driven by Indigenous peoples and target both the community and the individual, given the historical losses that resulted in the loss of authority for many Indigenous communities. However, many new programs in suicide prevention are being produced by Indigenous organizations, who continue to apply best practices from the world while adapting them to their cultures and traditions to make them more consistent with Indigenous worldviews. Examples include those that elders or knowledge keepers lead,

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

HEALING AND WELLNESS: RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS 10 have ritual and cultural teachings, perform in Indigenous languages, or take place on the land. (Crawford A., 2022). Conclusion This essay examines the history of Canada's residential school system and the intergenerational trauma that its Indigenous population has experienced. The high suicide rate among Indigenous people, poor health, PTSD, low self-esteem, addictive behavior, and substance misuse are only a few of the effects of the residential school system. The Aboriginal Healing Foundation and the Safety Seeking Healing program are two examples of the initiatives that have been put in place to assist Indigenous people in recovering from their trauma. Residential schools have had a profound and long-lasting negative impact. Generational effects have resulted from the breaches of human rights. The indigenous people's voices should be heard; government apologies alone won't be enough to help them recover; they should be allowed to decide what they need to heal, and they should be respected and assisted in getting what they need. Everyone should be informed about traditional healing procedures and interested in non-conventional service delivery methods. Supporting the indigenous people on their healing journey is crucial, and the government and the indigenous people should get along well. However, simply acknowledging the harms caused by the residential schools is insufficient; instead, the government must end systemic racism against the Indigenous people.

HEALING AND WELLNESS: RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS 11 References Aboriginal Healing Foundation. (2004). Where Are the Children? Healing the Legacy of Residential Schools. [Video]. 3:30 – 4:35. https://vimeo.com/27172950 Aboriginal Healing Foundation. (2022). Vision, Mission, and Values. https://www.ahf.ca/about- us/mission BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres. (2020). Urban Indigenous Wellness Report: Indigenous Health and Wellness. https://bcaafc.com/wp- content/uploads/2020/11/BCAAFC-Urban-Indigenous-Wellness-Report.pdf BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres. (2020). Urban Indigenous Wellness Report: Holistic and Social Determinant of Wellness . https://bcaafc.com/wp- content/uploads/2020/11/BCAAFC-Urban-Indigenous-Wellness-Report.pdf Bombay, A., Matheson, K., & Anisman, H. (2014). The intergenerational effects of Indian Residential Schools: implications for the concept of historical trauma . Transcultural psychiatry, 51(3), 320–338. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363461513503380 Crawford, A. (2022). Suicide among Indigenous Peoples in Canada. In The Canadian Encyclopedia . https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/suicide-among- indigenous-peoples-in-canada Filice, M. (2022). Aboriginal Healing Foundation. In The Canadian Encyclopedia . https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/aboriginal-healing-foundation Hanson, E., Gamez, D., & Manuel, A. (2020, September). The Residential School System . Indigenous Foundations. https://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/residential-school- system-2020/

HEALING AND WELLNESS: RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS 12 Marsh, T.N., Coholic, D., Cote-Meek, Cote-Meek, S., Najavits, L.M. (2015). Blending Aboriginal and Western healing methods to treat intergenerational trauma with substance use disorder in Aboriginal peoples who live in Northeastern Ontario, Canada : Aboriginal Spirituality and Healing Processes. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12954-015-0046-1 Marsh, T.N., Coholic, D., Cote-Meek, Cote-Meek, S., Najavits, L.M. (2015). Blending Aboriginal and Western healing methods to treat intergenerational trauma with substance use disorder in Aboriginal peoples who live in Northeastern Ontario, Canada : The Seeking Safety Counseling Program. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12954-015-0046-1 Menzies, P. (2020). Intergenerational Trauma and Residential Schools. In The Canadian Encyclopedia . https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/intergenerational- trauma-and-residential-schools Miller, J. (2021). Residential Schools in Canada. In The Canadian Encyclopedia . https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/residential-schools Neu, D., & Therrien, R. (2003). Accounting for Genocide. Canada’s Bureaucratic Assault on Aboriginal People: Scott and the Residential Schools. Fernwood Publishing. Restoule, B.M., Psych, C. (2013). How Do We Heal: creating a Community Wellness Plan that Addresses the Impacts of the Indian Residential School System? http://www.anishinabek.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/How-Do-We-Heal-Booklet.pdf Schiffer, J.J. (2016). Indigenous People: Reconciliation and Healing. Why Aboriginal People Can’t Just “Get Over It”: Understanding and Addressing Intergenerational Trauma. Visions. Volume 11. No 4. Pp 11 https://www.heretohelp.bc.ca/sites/default/files/visions- indigenous-people-vol11.pdf

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

HEALING AND WELLNESS: RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS 13 Wilk, P., Maltby, A., & Cooke, M. (2017). Residential schools and the effects on Indigenous health and well-being in Canada—a scoping review.  Public Health Rev  ,  38  (8). https://doi.org/10.1186/s 40985-017-0055-6

HEALING AND WELLNESS: RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS 14 Wilk, P., Maltby, A., & Cooke, M. (2017). Residential schools and the effects on Indigenous health and well-being in Canada—a scoping review.  Public Health Rev  ,  38  (8). https://doi.org/10.1186/s 40985-017-0055-6

HEALING AND WELLNESS: RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS 15 Wilk, P., Maltyby, A., & Cooke, M. (2017). Residential Schools and the Effects on Indigenous Health and Well-being in Canada- a Scoping Review. https://publichealthreviews.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40985-017-0055-6#citeas

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

assignment 3 ISWK2006

Related Documents