Impact of Colonisation on First People's Health: Critical Reflective Essay

This critical reflective essay discusses the impact of colonisation on the health outcomes of the first people. It elaborates on the key concepts such as racism, dispossession, western education, stolen generation and lack of connection with the country. The essay reflects on the concept of stolen generation and its impact on personal and professional culture. It also analyses the dominant cultural paradigm in western education and the importance of cultural competency in nursing field.

Running head: CRITICAL REFLECTIVE ESSAY
CRITICAL REFLECTIVE ESSAY
Name of the student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

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I was unaware as
it has been never
taught to me.
I have learned about
unconscious prejudices and the
course has influenced my way of
interacting with first people.
I would like to use holistic and
culturally safe care approaches
for the population and especially
for women.
Subject resonated in the course
Impact of
history and
colonisation
Concept 5:
Stolen
generation
Feelings: It was unbelievable
and I was surprised
Reaction: Shock
Concept 2:
Dispossession
Concept 4: Western
education.
Concept 3: Lack of
connection with
country.
Concept 1: Racism
Transformation in
practice
Why?
Concept Map:

2CRITICAL REFLECTIVE ESSAY

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Critical reflective essay:
Defining and discuss the subject and its key concepts:
In the course of first people health practice I was resonated with the subject the
impact of history and colonisation on the first people’s health. The history of colonisation has
impacted the lives of the first people in an effective manner. From health to economy, the
effect of colonisation has been found to bring dramatic changes in the lives of such people.
Before the British settlement there were more than 500 different groups of first people
consisting more than 750000 first people and their culture have made then one of the most
ancient groups of the world (Paradies, 2016). However, after colonisation they have been
forced to leave their land, culture, power families and settle down in other places. The course
has described the key concepts of history and colonisation. The key concepts include
influence of racism, continuous cycle of dispossession, influence of western education,
impact of stolen generation and lack of connection with the country (Balme, 2013). The
course has elaborated that colonisation has influenced racism especially related to white
privilege that is additional social benefits to the white people in the population. The effect of
racial discrimination has affected the health condition of the first people to an extent. Due to
such discrimination they have lacked adequate health service and resources that have affected
both the physical mental health as well. However, in the recent time there is no racism in the
Australian health system (Hiscock et al., 2016). On the other hand dispossession from their
own land has affected their mental health and due to settle down in new places and
environment their physical health got affected and they were exposed to new diseases as well
(Roberts, 2013). Education of their children was also affected. They were unable to adapt the
way of western education which has restricted them to access adequate health literacy
(Paradies, 2016). Another important key concept is stolen generation that means the forceful

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removal of the children of first people (Hiscock et al., 2016). Such situation has affected the
connection of the first people with the country (Balme, 2013). In this paper I will reflect on
the concept of stolen generation and its impact on my personal and professional culture.
Stolen generation:
The concept of stolen generation is also known as the concept of stolen children.
During colonisation the children of the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander have
been removed from their family forcefully by the Australian federal and state government
(Terszak, 2015). It was the part of the policy of assimilation. The action was based on the
assumption of inferior black people and superior white people and resulted in the natural
elimination of the first people from their land and culture. The children were removed from
their families forcefully and forced to reject their indigenous heritage and adapt the culture of
white community (Dockery, 2010). The process of assimilation was focused on the children
that were potential to adapt the white culture and tradition due to their lighter skin colour and
they were considered as half-caste (Hamilton, 2017). In this regards the children of first
people were adapted by the white people and they were taught to understand and adapt the
white culture. Even they were forbidden to use their own traditional language. Some children
were sent to the institutions where they faced abuse and neglect as well (Barney &
Mackinlay, 2010). However, the policy of removing the first people’s children from their
families and taught them the culture of white community in order to improve their lifestyle
was a big failure as most of the people of white community refused to accept the existence of
such children in their community and refused to give them equal rights (Terszak, 2015). It
has just influenced social discrimination, racism and deprivation of first people. I wonder
how this is possible to remove someone from his or her own society and force to adapt new
culture just because of removing the existence of black people. Thus, when the course was
explored about the stolen generation I was completely shocked. Improvement in the lifestyle

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of first people was a faced, I feel it was just an effort to show the power of white society and
simply eliminate the existence of black people from the country.
Reflection:
It was a pivotal moment for me when I was first resonated with the concept of stolen
generation in this semester. As a person from Chinese background it was quite difficult for
me to customise with the culture, history, journey and lives of the first people’s because of
different demography and cultural trends. My cultural self including my lifestyle, family,
religious, friends, personal views and perception tradition, ethnicity and my knowledge have
influenced me to provide equal respect to the people of different culture and demographic
background. I was completely shocked after knowing the beliefs of the white people, their
cruel activity and way of reflecting power. Thus, such experience of learning about stolen
generation has surprised me to an extent and it was unbelievable for me to some point. After
understanding the evidences and literatures regarding the concept of stolen generation, the
first thing which has influenced me is the pain of going away from the family. I was thinking
that as a mother how I would react if someone removed my child from me forcefully. I was
trying to imagine the condition of the mothers and their children during the period of stolen
generation. I was assuming the feelings of the first people women and children regarding
never seeing their family or children again. On the other way as a midwifery nurse my
professional culture has influenced me to provide equal care to each patient and help them to
resolve their health issues (Goeman et al., 2015). As a midwifery nurse it is my responsibility
to focus on the women and children and provide holistic approaches of care. Thus, I was
trying to grasp the concept associated with the first people’s life, especially for the women
and children. I was trying to understand the way in which the first people women resilience
with the period of stolen generation and about their inherent strength. It was difficult to
understand the way of coping with the situation (Barney & Mackinlay, 2010). The course has

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successfully explained the influence of history and colonisation on the health outcomes of the
first people and influenced me to gather further information in order to learn more about the
lives of first people to introduce more holistic approaches in my clinical practice and improve
my skills to provide better health service to the first people.
Analysis:
Throughout the learning session I was shocked and with the increasing understanding
about the impact stolen generation I have started to think about why I was surprised and so
shocked after knowing about stolen generation? After an ongoing period of self-estimation I
have understand that the main reason of such feelings and reaction is that I have been never
discussed or taught about such concept. In order to understand the reason behind such
discrepancy it is important to reflect and critically analyse the dominant cultural paradigm in
western education (Glăveanu, 2010). I have understand that there might be biasness in the
western education culture thus the history of colonisation or the key concepts such as stolen
generation might not been valued at all. White privilege is another important aspect of this
fact. The culture of white privilege has modified the system according to their cultural beliefs
and values. As the white culture is dominant in nature it has influenced the philosophy and
social theories. Due to such aspects the western culture might be ignored the value of the
struggle of the first people during colonisation (Mack, 2010). I have realised that due to such
gap in the western education I was unaware about the effect of colonisation and about its
concept such as stolen generation. However, in the learning session of first people’s health
and practice I have gathered knowledge regarding stolen generation, the impact of loss of
identity and lack of connection with family and the country as well. I have understood impact
of such situation on the health outcomes of the first people in an effective manner.
Learning:

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The learning session regarding the impact of history and colonisation on the health
outcomes of the first people as helped me to understand the subject in an effective manner
and utilise the knowledge in the clinical practice in order to improve my skills to provide
better service to the first people. Through the help of the critical reflection on the concept of
stolen generation I have successfully build awareness regarding unconscious prejudices. I
have come to know about the influence of social prejudices in order to create social
discrimination and influence racism within a country (Jonason, 2015). I have learned about
the impact of racism on the health of the first people. The learning session has clearly
explained the association of racism with different mental illness such as depression,
substance abuse, post-colonial trauma, transgenerational trauma, anxiety and others (Parker,
2010). I have learned about how racism leads to the consequence of unequal distribution
power, resources and opportunities across ethnic and racial groups (Awofeso, 2011). The
session has changed my assumption regarding the first people. The learning session has
influenced me to change my way of interaction with first people in the health care settings.
For example, after the learning session I have understand that being a midwifery nurse it is
important to provide mental support to the first people’s women and children beside medical
support (Townsend & Morgan, 2017). I have understood the importance of cultural
competency in nursing field in order to understand the culture of the people with different
cultural background. Now I understand the importance of such factors in order to provide
adequate care and build effective therapeutic relationship with the first people in the health
care settings. I have learned that I need to analyse my actions and thoughts and evaluate them
before implementation in order to understand the effectiveness and impact on the health
outcomes of first people. Thus, I would like to utilise the experience and modify my practice
according to the knowledge gathered.
Transformation:

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Through this learning session and critical reflection I have learned about the negative
impact of the stress and mental distress created due to stolen generation and other factors of
colonisation on the health status of the first people. I have been influenced by the learning
session and decided to include some modification in my clinical practice. I have understood
the importance of holistic approaches of care and as a midwifery nurse I would like to
introduce care service that would focus on first people’s women (Goeman et al., 2015). I
believe that the learning session has helped me to understand the mental status of the first
people due to stolen generation, loss of identity, loss of land, increasing racism and social
discrimination (Paradies, 2016). Thus, I would like to transform my practice according to the
knowledge provided by the learning session while providing care to the first people’s women.
I would like to improve my communication skill in order to adapt a holistic way to interact
with the first people’s women, as it could help me to establish effective therapeutic
relationship with the consumer and understand their central problem in an effective manner
(Johnson & Caldwell, 2011). As I have come to know the political, social and cultural aspects
underlying the health issues of the first people, I could improve my quality of care. I would
like to provide mental support beside the medical support to the first people’s women and I
could help them to discuss their problems without any fear and hesitation, thus I could
introduce effective nursing care intervention according to their needs (Townsend & Morgan,
2017). In addition the learning session ahs helped me to improve cultural competency thus I
feel that, now I could provide culturally safe care service to the first people’s women in an
effective manner (Purnell, 2012). It is expected that with such transformation in the clinical
practice I could help the first people’s women to cope up with their health issues in an
effective manner and achieve positive health outcomes.

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References:
Awofeso, N. (2011). Racism: a major impediment to optimal Indigenous health and health
care in Australia. Australian Indigenous Health Bulletin, 11(3), 1-8.
Balme, J. (2013). Of boats and string: The maritime colonisation of Australia. Quaternary
International, 285, 68-75.
Barney, K., & Mackinlay, E. (2010). 'Singing Trauma Trails': Songs of the Stolen
Generations in Indigenous Australia. Music and Politics, 4(2).
Dockery, A. M. (2010). Culture and wellbeing: The case of Indigenous Australians. Social
Indicators Research, 99(2), 315-332.
Glăveanu, V. P. (2010). Paradigms in the study of creativity: Introducing the perspective of
cultural psychology. New ideas in psychology, 28(1), 79-93.
Goeman, D., Koch, S., Fogerty, B., & Collister, L. (2015). Holistic care approach. Australian
Nursing and Midwifery Journal, 22(8), 38.
Hamilton, P. (2017). Sale of the century?: memory and historical consciousness in Australia.
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Jonason, P. K. (2015). How “dark” personality traits and perceptions come together to predict
racism in Australia. Personality and Individual Differences, 72, 47-51.
Mack, L. (2010). The philosophical underpinnings of educational research.
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Roberts, S. H. (2013). History of Australian land settlement. Routledge.
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