Reflection & Analysis - Skye's Story - Template (1)

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Apr 3, 2024

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SOWK 200 Skye’s Story - Analysis & Reflection Use this template to complete the assignment. ANALYSIS: PART 1 Answer the following questions in order. Separate and number your answers. 1. What do the article, textbook, lecture, and related videos reveal about the number of Indigenous children involved in the child protection system across Canada versus non- Indigenous children, and how these statistics came to be? 2. Skye’s mother Marnie had several vulnerabilities across her life. What were they and what was their root cause? 3. What was the focus of the child protection system in managing Skye’s case? 4. How do you interpret the phrase ‘best interest of the child’ in the context of Skye’s life? 5. What unique cultural needs were missed in addressing Skye’s situation? 1- There was a significant overrepresentation of indigenous children in the child protection system (lecture 8) compared to non-indigenous children; this was mainly because of historical factors like the residential schools (lecture 9) that displaced 150,000 indigenous children between the 1800s and 1996. According to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada report (lecture 8) in 2015, which investigated the harsh mistreatment of those children, it showed that thousands of those children died because of neglect, illnesses, abuse, and suicide. Furthermore, indigenous children suffer from socioeconomic factors like poverty, inadequate housing, and limited access to education and healthcare. Indigenous children also suffered a cultural disconnect that Canada’s child protection system (chapter 6) was insensitive to, and this lack of culturally appropriate services and understanding contributed to the significant overrepresentation of Indigenous children in the child welfare system. 2- Skye’s mother was a talented artist but unfortunately suffered from mental health issues and substance abuse problems, which led her to be unable to take care of her daughter and ask for social workers to take her to another family. These mental health problems and substance abuse are rooted back to the intergenerational trauma that Skye’s mother was the victim of. Skye’s mother was taken from her parents when she was an infant as part of a 1960s scoop (lecture 9) and placed in a non-indigenous abusive household. 3- The focus was on finding an adoptive family for Skye. These adoptive families were not indigenous, so the child protection system focused on disconnecting Skye from her heritage and culture and didn’t allow her to reconnect with her mother as a part of the risk-assessment tools of the child welfare system (Chapter 6). Unfortunately, these adoption trials were unsuccessful, which led Skye to feel neglected and without a sense of belonging. 4- The best interest of a child principle was derived from

Article 3 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child (Chapter 6). The BIC doctrine was issued to decide what would best protect children’s safety, security, and well-being. According to the daughter of Sigmund Freud, Anna, the “best interest of the child" is the child-parent attachment and the continuation of parenting unless in severe circumstances where the parent is unable or unwilling to provide, which takes us back to Skye’s story, where her mother’s mental health and lack of means to support her child were absent. In this case, Skye’s best interest is to be taken away from her mother and to be placed in a better household that provides her with a better quality of life. 5- Skye’s needed to feel like she belonged, and taking her away from her culture, heritage, and her family neglected the basic minimum standard of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Chapter 8). In Skye’s situation the adoption and foster homes, was an act of cultural genocide. Skye needed to stay within her indigenous community because emotional bonding can change over time, but the feeling of social dislocation tends to grow over time. Word count: 498 REFLECTION: PART 2 No in-text citations required. What are your thoughts and feelings about Skye’s Story? How do your own history, identity, and personal experiences influence your thoughts and feelings regarding Skye’s Story? YOU CAN ANSWER ONE OR BOTH QUESTIONS AS LONG AS YOU RESPECT THE MINIMUM AND MAXIMUM WORD COUNT. No words can describe the tragedy of Skye’s story. Every time I read the story of Skye, I feel surrounded by clouds of sadness and anger that are difficult to articulate. I can’t even imagine the kind of pain Skye was going through in her childhood, the traumas and drastic changes she had to face, and the struggle to feel safe, stable, and like she belonged somewhere. She lost the worst thing a child can lose, which is a loving and caring family. All I can think of is how strong this kid was to survive twelve years of wondering around, not knowing who she is, not feeling wanted by anyone, and being deprived of the privilege of being within her own culture. One cannot help but question the efficacy of the social workers involved in Skye's life. Did they truly understand the delicate nature of her circumstances? Were they equipped to address the profound complexities of her history? It appears that the depth of her pain and the specificity of her needs were overshadowed by a more standardized approach. The failure to truly listen to her concerns and to create an environment tailored to her unique struggles represents a systemic breakdown. Skye was treated like any other non-indigenous kid's situation and forgot to take into consideration the delicacy of her case and the history of generational traumas. Personally, I would’ve done things much

differently to ensure she got the best quality of life a child her age deserved. If the social workers focused on reducing the gap between the mother and the daughter by helping the mother recover from the drug abuse, finding mental health support and look for financial support for her through indigenous affairs or Canada’s child benefit programs, Skye’s and her mother could’ve been alive now, living happily in a safe and loving household. Through my own personal life experiences, history and background I can relate to some part of Skye’s struggles, leaving my own country at age of nine and moving with my family to another country to seek refugee from the war. I remember when my family told me that they were moving me into a new school, the storm of emotions I felt of sadness to be away from my own culture and friends, worrying about if people will accept me, will I find new friends, and the stress of how will I cope with the new system. When I was asked where I am from and to describe my own country, I was so stressed and nervous, and didn’t know how to answer, I barely knew or remember a any of it, except the chaos, war and terrifying stories told by my parents about the constant struggle to feel safe. No one, not even my family was able to provide any good information or memory about my own culture and hometown. I felt disconnected from my origins and culture, that even now when someone talked about my own country, I don’t feel that rush of joy or sense of belonging to it, because how can you feel something you haven’t experienced. Word count: 521

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