Introduction
The analysis and research of Indigenous societies’ main tendencies of development and functioning is the relevant question of the last decades. Many studies explore the reasons and consequences of historical influence on people suffering from colonization. Paradies (2016), in his article, analyzes the primary ways the current conditions of the Aboriginal community’s ill health. He describes socio-economic, historical, and personal approaches to establishing patterns of contemporary disparities in health between indigenous and non-indigenous peoples.
Discussion
The article contributes to the general understanding of healthcare systems, highlighting essential issues considering the health problems in indigenous people’s societies in Australia. It successfully shifts the focus to the crucial point of topics such as the historical consequences and humanity’s collective responsibility for colonial ideas. One of the central ideas explored in the article of Paradies (2016) addresses colonization as the main component of the further development of the Aboriginal community. The historical context plays an essential role in the analysis and, at the same time, heavily relies on the external sources that influenced it.
The article focuses on colonization as the point of examination, which at the same time, is one of the main strengths of the article. However, the culture and first evidence of the aboriginal people’s traces were found in 63,000 BCE (Bringing Them Home, n.d.). At the same time, it was only in 1768 CE when Captain Cook was given specific orders, with the consent of the natives, to take possession of advantageous positions in the name of the King (Bringing Them Home, n.d.). It proves that colonization interfered with the natural development of the local society and forcefully pressured people toward new orders and norms. I think it is successfully supported in the article by the depiction of labeling indigeneity as mixed heritage. It draws strong emphasis on the virtually undecipherable boundary between happy settler hybridity and indigeneity for light-skinned people with indigenous ancestry but weak cultural ties.
All of the stated features that characterized the historical identity of indigenous people create the united field of the examination provided in the paper. It is vital to differentiate the initial historical situation from the natural evolutionary processes since this tendency influences the already challenging nature of measuring indigenous health. Nevertheless, it is possible to establish future trends of its development only by overlooking the community’s historical condition.
The next point studied by Paradies (2016) concerns the recently developed notion of historical trauma and explores this concept, which shapes the causal connections between discussed problems. This point of view is beneficial in the context of the article because it provides a clear understanding of the causes and health consequences. Many contemporary researchers claim that assimilation processes, such as removing Aboriginal children from their families and societies, abrogated their independence, leading to the formation of historical trauma (Menzies, 2019). It violated their guardianship obligations, abused their authority, denied them their parental rights, and violated their human rights because they were detained in orphanages, subjected to abuse, and exposed to other forms of exploitation.
A person’s environment, family, and institutions can impact their health and well-being. Commonly referred to as “social determinants of health,” these interactions’ effects on an individual’s well-being are at the center of their significance (Menzies, 2019). Aetiologically significant in the cause of disease for Indigenous Australians, the influence of structural inequities and interpersonal and institutional discrimination can have negative consequences on educational outcomes, seeking employment, economic opportunity, and housing availability.
To continue the recovery of the members of Indigenous society, their families, and their communities, an awareness of injustice and discrimination must be a vital part of the dialogue between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. The article contributes to my personal perception of the problem by creating a strong associative context of the situation. The terms colonization and racism are frequently used together in context, with the implication that the former has historically influenced the latter and that prejudice towards indigenous peoples has been created by colonization (Williams et al., 2019). It opens a new perspective of my understanding of the issue, not as an isolated incident but as a patterned and stimulated process. Additionally, the author helps me to realize the importance of the establishment of dedication to engaging in legitimate collaboration with Aboriginal people to start making amends and shifting the dynamics that result in poor financial, academic, health, housing, and social systems.
Additionally, the article broadens my understanding of the contemporary health situation among indigenous people and the potential solutions to its problems. It is done through the idea of cultural discrimination as one of the main problems and focuses on decolonization as the tool for possible resolution of the issue. Racial injustice has been caused and sustained by a series of interconnected factors supporting one another in various societal domains (Williams et al., 2019). Given the relatively stable racist social structures that affect multiple inputs to risks, resources, and health care, it provides me with a deeper understanding of why racial discrepancies in health persist.
Nevertheless, Paradies focuses only on the general notion of decolonization, which provides a particular limitation to the whole system of improvement. Such an approach narrows the problem overview to cultural differences and discrimination of the indigenous people by non-indigenous. Segregation, for instance, in Williams et al. (2019) study, has been shown to adversely influence health by producing concentrated poverty in regions with high rates of neighborhood disadvantage and poor social housing. In addition, it caused both the public and commercial sectors to show indifference to or divestment from such communities. However, the term decolonization did not particularly establish means and strategies to reduce the harm of such a concept.
The creation of independent institutions managed by indigenous people, discussed in the article, is the first step toward effective decolonization. Moreover, the paper aims to reflect the central aspect of the process. The idea of closing the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous people is the main to the successful implementation of decolonization. For instance, Oxfam organization initiated the campaign to draw more attention and support to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health outcomes (Oxfam Australia, n.d.). The article explicitly overlooks the concept of the importance of cultural and institutional support for society. However, although the author offers data that decolonization may decrease some manifestations of historical trauma and discrimination and increase equity, there is still more to be investigated. Various tactics should still be used to comprehend how institutional racism negatively impacts health. Initiatives that have been put into place in urban regions have not yet addressed residential racial discrimination or the prevalence of poverty there. Expanding initiatives that target colonization’s fundamental underlying causes will be necessary to dismantle its main institutional structures.
Similarly, the article lacks empirical information to determine which colonial, academic, labor market, and housing processes have the most significant influence and are most likely to provide new possibilities. Research is required to determine whether and when the identified health impacts would be more significantly elaborated; multilevel response approaches can be used to counteract racism’s harmful effects. For instance, it is yet unknown whether strategies focusing on upstream interventions will be integrated with a specifically targeted plan like a self-affirmation technique to produce more significant beneficial impacts (Paradies, 2016). Relatedly, assessing whether various aboriginal populations may respond differently to alternative solutions is essential. It is necessary to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of decolonization for different demographic groupings.
Analyzing the article, I came to a conclusion based on studied additional material that scholars must extend the conceptualization to fully define and evaluate the multiple settings and dimensions in which these fundamental forces work and experimentally determine how they affect health. Given that structural and cultural racism has been linked to historical trauma, it is essential to pay careful attention to how current policies harm the health of indigenous people. More complex data modeling techniques are required in future studies to understand the effects of all the historical dynamical processes interacting across time at various levels of analysis because the article only partially explores this aspect. The similarities and contrasts between national and cultural contexts must be considered more. Finally, the researchers need to comprehend the circumstances in which group density might have favorable or unfavorable consequences on health. They need a better understanding of when and how historical trauma might result in characteristics that either improve or harm health.
Conclusion
Therefore, the article Paradies reflects the general problem of health conditions of Aboriginal people but limits the possible reasons and solutions for the extensive understanding of the concept. Although the historical trauma and context are the strengths of the article, which reflect the ground information for further investigation, decolonization as the leading solution provides a narrow and abstract field for improving health outcomes. Many cultural and institutional approaches and strategies must be implemented to achieve the goal of decolonization as a whole and specific objectives of health improvement.
References
Bringing Them Home (n.d.) Historical context – ancient history. Web.
Menzies K. (2019) Understanding the Australian Aboriginal experience of collective, historical, and intergenerational trauma. International Social Work, 62(6). 1522-1534. Web.
Oxfam Australia (n.d.). Close the Gap. Web.
Paradies, Y. (2016). Colonisation, racism, and indigenous health. Journal of Population Research, 33(1), 83-96. Web.
Williams, D. R., Lawrence, J. A. & Davis B. A. (2019). Racism and health: Evidence and needed research. Annual Review of Public Health, 40(1). 105-125. Web.