Canadian aboriginals have surpassed many hardships by unfair governmental systems and citizens’ discriminatory behavior. Only towards the end of the 20th century, Canada started the welfare systems that helped indigenous people (Borg et al., 2010a). The readings demonstrate the history of dominance over aboriginals and the role of Anti-Oppressive Practice in achieving equal rights for all. They are very efficient in reconsidering the strategy of delivering service to aboriginals.
The works illustrate the significance of consideration of information about the ethnic background when constructing a welfare system. For instance, Walmsley (2009) talks about how social workers can improve aboriginal children’s situations by accounting for their history and cultures. He shows that the educational system discourages children from indigenous families. Similarly, Borg et al. (2010b) write about the mistreatment that occurred due to the ignorance of psychiatric hospitals treating aboriginals about their customs. Thus, I understood that any specialist should analyze all the aspects when working with aboriginals. If I work with indigenous people in the future, I will consider their mentality to accomplish the task efficiently.
It was shocking to know the thorny path of aboriginal culture representatives. McMahon et al. (2010) describe the history of oppression on Canadian aboriginal people and how the government tried to corner them, starting from settlement times. It was informative to know about the stages of oppression formation and the concept of the dominant society. Chapter 4 also focuses on the Anti-Oppressive Practice (AOP) and the methods that can improve the situation (McMahon et al., 2010). Therefore, all the works deliberately introduce the history of discrimination against indigenous people and the welfare system’s development.
To sum up, the readings highlight the problem of narrow thinking of social workers when dealing with aboriginals. Things like their customs, language, and history are especially crucial when working with children and mentally ill patients with indigenous roots. The materials express the importance of justice for all and the role of aboriginals in history. They affected my perception of the subtleties of dealing with aboriginals.
References
Borg, D., Brownlee, K., & Delanay, R. (2010a). Social work and Aboriginal peoples: perspectives from Canada’s rural and provincial norths (pp. 12-30). (K. Brownlee, R. Neckoway, D. Delaney, & D. Durst, Eds.). Lakehead University, Centre for Northern Studies.
Borg, D., Sportak, J., & Delanay, R. (2010b). Social work and Aboriginal peoples: perspectives from Canada’s rural and provincial norths (pp. 149-164). (K. Brownlee, R. Neckoway, D. Delaney, & D. Durst, Eds.). Lakehead University, Centre for Northern Studies.
McMahon, J., Borg, D., & Delanay, R. (2010). Social work and Aboriginal peoples: perspectives from Canada’s rural and provincial norths (pp. 43-50). (K. Brownlee, R. Neckoway, D. Delaney, & D. Durst, Eds.). Lakehead University, Centre for Northern Studies.
Walmsley, C. (2009). Walking this path together: the practice of child welfare in indigenous communities. Fernwood Publishing.