Past Australian government policies are to blame for Stolen Generations. They had acts of parliament that required children of Australian Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal descent to be removed from their families. The main aim of this was to break cultures and family beliefs held in their communities for generations. This early and mid-20th century practice has led to a community still healing from the rough experiences that came with it. Crime, relationships and other social norms have made them even more distinct as a lost society with no intergenerational identity. This essay provides a discussion of the impacts of Stolen Generations on contemporary Australian Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders with respect to education, social life, poverty, crime and trauma are covered in this essay.
The way those separated from their families were raised has heavily impacted their lives in the present. Many of those that were taken from their families had to live a life of seclusion and discrimination. With little interaction with others in society to control their upbringing, essential parts of their identities were taken from them. According to the nurture vs nature concept, children’s upbringing impacts whom they become (Kong et al. 2018). Discrimination and general seclusion from others meant that they were lonely most of the time. The original victims have grown and are now raising families but their learning curve was interrupted. They were hardwired to become who they are now and it is not their choice. Seclusion and loneliness led to them becoming separated from society and reserved while making it hard to live a social life. The scars from the pasts of most of the victims are catching up with them in the present. Many have problems bonding with others in social settings and keeping relationships is something they have a hard time doing.
Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders were very indigenous people who still lived by conservative methods and cultures. Taking them away from their natural habitats and forcing them to live a particular way of life scarred them. Some still harbor hatred for those who hurt and discriminated against them. This has impacted their growth and behaviour around other people. They are volatile and seem to have violent tendencies against things that seem strange or harmful to them (Hogg 2021). As a result, crime and violent behaviour are associated with the victims of the Stolen Generations and the generations stemming from them. The children of those taken from their families, their children and relatives have been associated with crime. Some forms of criminal behaviour, either directly or indirectly, have been identified amongst the victims who assimilated despite experiencing culture shock.
Victims of the Stolen Generations experienced social problems as well when they tried integrating with others. They lived amongst people who treated them as aliens and strangers and often discriminated against them. The new ways of life made identifying with the cultures and practices of their people seem shameful. In the end, it proved to be structural mechanisms and policies meant to strip the victims of their identities. They denied them equal opportunities in schools, and workplaces thus making integration even more difficult. They generally had poor living standards, and it was extreme poverty in some cases. Limited and rigid opportunities were provided to those who were assimilated. They still were unclear as society looked to break any ties to the past that could keep their cultures alive. Identifying with the cultures of the victims was also harshly punished.
Many of the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders had their life of normalcy taken away from them. It was even worse when they were brought to new environments where many treated them as strangers. The psychological burden that arises from seclusion and loneliness mean them were sad most of the time, which causes depression and other mental and psychological health issues. The harsh life of initial victims and generations that came after them has caused many to be traumatized. The trauma emanates from two familiar places: the experiences they were taken from and the experiences of their children (Menzies 2019). Inability to bond with their families properly and integrate with society has also left a psychological burden that weighs down their happiness. Those who have become parents have failed or struggled with parenting and raising their children because they do not have the mental, social and psychological facilities for parenting. They lack the experience and some have failed so terribly that it significantly increases their trauma, thus plunging them into further depression and mental issues.
Victims of Stolen Generations suffered still suffer to date, with the only difference being that those in the past suffered immediate and direct challenges. Currently, Aboriginals and Islanders who were taken from their families struggle to interact with other people. They also find it hard operating outside the natural habitats they were used to before the separation. It has affected them and how they raise their children. There is a correlation between the victims and their children with crime and volatile conduct. The frustration of being treated as a stranger in the past still linger in their minds. The frustration and hurt are sometimes directed at their children to vent some of their issues. Lack of sufficient education for them has not helped either as it could have prepared them better on how to live with others and bond socially.
References
Hogg, R 2021, “The Backroads of Australian Punishment”, in , Crossroads of Rural Crime, pp. 75-93.
Kong, A, Thorleifsson, G, Frigge, M, Vilhjalmsson, B, Young, A & Thorgeirsson, T Et al. 2018, “The nature of nurture: Effects of parental genotypes”, in , Science, vol. 359, no. 6374, pp. 424-428.
Menzies, K 2019, “Understanding the Australian Aboriginal experience of collective, historical and intergenerational trauma”, in , International Social Work, vol. 62, no. 6, pp. 1522-1534.