Intergenerational Trauma in Indigenous Australians Essay 2022

RUNNING HEAD: INTERGENERATIONAL TRAUMA
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INTERGENERATIONAL
TRAUMA IN INDIGENOUS
AUSTRALIANS
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INTERGENERATIONAL TRAUMA 1
Intergenerational trauma in Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander Australians
Intergenerational trauma is regarded as the historical trauma which usually occurs due to
the stressful experiences of the past. It is the kind of historical trauma that comes when there are
traumatic experiences to be carried out from the generation (BL Carlson, 2017). There are
severe causes of intergenerational trauma which can have negative influence on the families and
can damage the mental wellbeing of an individual and can lead to unresolved thoughts that has
been carried out from the traumatic event from the past (Rinker & Lawler, 2018). Here, this
essay highlights Intergenerational trauma in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians
which covers the description of health issue, current statistics to address the burden of health
issue, history of colonization that had impacted the development of the health issue, impact of
social determinants along with cultural implications and problems to address the issue.
Intergenerational trauma seems to occur due to the historical traumatic event but has
influence on the current condition of coping and the process of healing from trauma. It can be
noted that intergenerational trauma can be caused due to the family history of trauma of an
individual which can ultimately lead to severe mental condition of an individual due to the
influence of history of physiological and psychological illness that is being carried out from the
generation (Rachel Yehuda, 2018). There are severe impacts of intergenerational trauma that
can lead to disturbance in the mental condition of the person. It can lead to negative behavior of
the child and can impact the parenting of the child. It can also cause unresolved thoughts,
negative attitude and complicated personalities that is being influenced by the history of trauma
of the family members. Moreover, it can be noted in case of a pregnant women who has suffered
from prenatal disorder can have a direct impact on the mental condition and overall development
of the child. However, in most of the conditions, the patient suffering from intergenerational
trauma may indulge into self-destructive activities because the patient is taking troubles due to
the pain of memorizing the history or continuing mental illness (K Griffiths, 2016). Moreover,
intergenerational trauma does not always evolve due to the traumatic events but also expected to
arises due to the perception and belief of the individual who suffered from trauma in the past.

INTERGENERATIONAL TRAUMA 2
Further, intergenerational trauma in indigenous people is expected to arise due to the
result of the colonization, removal of land, loss of culture and violence associated with colonial
issues are the causes of trauma in the indigenous people in Australia. This passes from
generation to generation having devastating effects including domestic violence, self-harm,
addiction and severe mental conditions of the child due to the family history of trauma.
However, the load of illness amongst the Indigenous inhabitants is 2.3 times that of non-
Indigenous Australians (M. Salmon, 2018). For Indigenous families, these figures are imitated
in lower life expectation, advanced rates of infant and maternal transience, and developed
occurrence of low birth weight and adult corpulence. Furthermore, around 7,900 Indigenous and
Torres Strait Islander children below the age of 15 are alive with one associate of stolen
generations (Rachel Yehuda, 2018). Additionally, in 2014-2016, Aboriginal children aged
between 0-4 are more probable to die than non-aboriginal children (M. Salmon, 2018).
Colonization of indigenous people such as aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Australians, have impact on the traumatic events of the children. When people were deprived
from their land and loss their culture, it impacted the intergenerational trauma of indigenous
people of Australia. Thus, this was the major reason for the emergence of the heath issue which
later passed to generations leading to family violence and abuse. In the light of the history of
colonization in Australia, it can be understood that aborigines had faced several difficulties due
to the emergence of New South Wales in 1788 who began maintaining prisons. When England
entered Australia, they forced aborigines to sacrifice their land and many of them were severely
beaten and killed (Bourassa, Blind, Dietrich, & Oleson, 2015). Due to the severe condition,
aborigines had faced poor immune system leading to loss of life due to starvation and major
diseases. Thus, it can be noted that this history of colonization had impacted the intergenerational
trauma arising within the aboriginals and Torres Strait Islander Australians in the sense that the
severe conditions of the historical people passes on to the current generation causing illness to
the children having such family backgrounds.
Further, when the conditions of the aborigines got better in the later centuries, these
people lost their culture as there were no people to hear them and all the people started speaking
different languages at the time of colonization (TN Marsh, 2016). Thus, the loss of culture had
impacted the mental wellbeing of people. This gave rise to stolen generations and it is assessed