SCS130 Reflective Essay: Personal Reflections on Indigenous Australia

This reflective essay analyzes key issues related to Indigenous Australia, drawing upon the autobiography "Is that you, Ruthie?" and other course materials. The essay explores the impact of historical events, such as massacres and British settlement, on the Aboriginal population, and the role of medi...Read More

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Reflective Essay
Name
Institutional Affiliation

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Part 1
Reflection on the Key Issues
The life of Ruthie started in the dormitory. She was six months old when her mother
shifted from the west, and she completely had no idea about lifestyle and future difficulties.
She faced a lot of emotional and psychological difficulties because she had to start her life
from the dormitory. She could not meet her mother due to which she felt an emotional
disturbance. She completely had no idea why they were living in Barambah Aboriginal
Settlement. It had greatly affected her life and dreams.
Reflection of Personal Thoughts
The life of Ruthie has taught various lessons from history. Is not easily forgettable
and leave a painful footprint on the minds of readers. The mistakes of history teach us not to
repeat that and we should completely avoid it in future political and societal decisions. The
significance of family bonds can be traced here. The destitution of love, care, and affection
from the mother and not the allowance of greeting with family can depress a child. It can
greatly affect his or her behaviour, attitudes and beliefs towards life. The inaccessibility to
education and ongoing scenario can keep people in destitute and negligence. It reduces their
ability for decision making. Thus, the real story from the indigenous Australian teaches us to
give importance and proper place to all the people of different social classes, race, colour, and
creed (Bird et al., 2016). They should give natural freedom to live with their father, mother,
siblings and other relatives. The surrounding of loving family and friends shape the
behaviour, attitude, values, and beliefs of a child. Thus, everyone should be given freedom
for basic human rights. It is mandatory to learn from the past to develop a better present and
future.
Reflection over Theoretical Implications

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There are various conceptual learnings and theoretical applications from Is that you,
Ruthie. For example; the theory of social constructivism that shapes human behaviours has
affected the parenting of Ruthie in the later years. The theory of social isolation has played a
role in Ruthie’s life. Her separation from her mother had also affected her poor decisions, for
example; of being about an older man who later was punished for his affairs (Gray &
Tesfaghiorghis, 2018). It is imperative to analyse these sociological theories and concepts in
the context of this historical reality based description, which has an imprint of the hundreds
of lives from the dormitory.
Reflection on Feeling and Thinking
The real-life implications and destitution faced by the Ruthie due to situations have
made me think that there are millions of people whose lives get affected due to political or
social decisions of authorities. The young ones and newly born have no idea why they are
facing the situation in which they are trapped socially and politically. The right education and
exposure to the outside world can change their cognitive thinking and behaviours if they are
given freedom and basic human rights for their survival (Patrick & Moodie, 2016). The
Aboriginal Settlement has an imprint on the history of indigenous Australian, which can be
mitigated with the privileges and opportunities provided to them.
Part 2
Reflection over the Massacres
Before and during the period of British Settlement efforts, hundreds of massacres
were done to the Indigenous Australian. The Australian media covered by the government
and authority hesitate to talk about the true stories of Australian history. Conservative figures
do not let it publicly open in front of the population. The historian and researcher Lyndall
Ryan has done extensive four-year research on the fining of a number of criminal activities
practised to the indigenous Australian (Haag, 2018). One hundred and seventy massacres

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were observed to the Aboriginal Australian, six on record killings for British settlers were
found out. It is estimated that almost five hundred mass killings had been gone through for
the settlement.
The painful history of Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islanders people had
left an impact on the minds of the researcher and nationals. The reflection over the past
events and similar happenings in other regions of the world for force settlement has impacted
the human, social and political lives of national, and their ability for having influence over
the public decisions by the authorities which changes their lives. All forces applied over them
had increased the criminalisation of the native Australian who tried to resist British
settlement, but those were killed to death over their voices and resistance. The policy-making
on behalf of the indigenous Australian has proved to be racist and discriminatory. The
concept of over-policing has marginalized native Australians and removed their associations
from the mainstream Austrian society (Wilson & Wilks, 2015). The people who raised
against such racist and discriminated policies were arrested and against other similar
resistance struggles. The criminological research over the ratio of arrest between the
Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal was highly polarised. The over-representation of Aboriginal
Australian in prison depicts the cases of arrest against their unheard struggle.
Reflection on the Concept of Over Policy
The concept of over-policy has impacted the lives of millions of indigenous
Australian. Some theorists did not comprehend the idea of over-policing while some had
taken it in the manner which showed the over-marginalisation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander (Malaspinas & Westaway, 2016). The concept of over-policing can be
comprehended from the factor that law should be equal for all the natives and nationals, but
these were highly discriminated as racist. Their struggles against this and minor dispute
labelled them against good order. They were forced to relocate from the mainstream society,

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and their political representation was remained unheard during the eighteen and the mid-
twentieth century.
The racial classification, social and political non-representation, separation from the
mainstream media and avoidance and negligence over the media to recognise the
discrimination and racial presence have changed my thinking a lot (Armillei & Lobo, 2017).
The media played a crucial role in sensitising about the prevailing issue, but of media is also
controlled to reveal the truth and nationals can face inequality, criminalisation, and injustice
in their own country. The media supported the British settlement activities and positively
streamlined the concept of over policy before the acceptance of indigenous Australian
marginalisation and social and political injustice which had been done to them. The reflection
on the Karl Marx theory of the survival of the fittest and class struggle and class conflict also
showed its traces in this settlement over Australian territory.
Part 3
Reflection on Key Issue
The key issue explored in the autobiography is the isolation of Ruthie from her
mother at a very early age? This isolation has greatly affected her behaviour (Jackson, 2017).
She was not aware that it was not a short period departure because at the beginning she was
very to meet with other dormitory girls. But later on, she found that she had to spend days
and nights in dormitory without her mother, which made her angry. The connection between
the child and a mother is imperative for stable upbringing.
The inaccessibility of Ruth to meet her mother despite living in the same place has
affected her behaviour. She cried at night before sleeping. She got punished for crying.
Knowing as a reader has changed me a lot towards the family preferences. Later on, she
accustomed to the rules and regulations of the dormitory to avoid inconvenience. Such

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isolation is not easy to bear as a child. It had made me more sensitive towards the bond
between the mother and a child, especially in the early stages of life.
Sociological Theoretical Application over Issue
The sociological theory of social constructivism can be applied and critically analysed
in the life history of Ruthie and other dormitory girls. Their living room, sharing of clothes
and stuff, eating on a dining room, distribution of workload, and punishment for the violation
of rules and regulation, and reward for the better performance. All these have changed her as
a person. These have shaped her behaviour, attitude, values, and preferences. Her life was
spent under the supervision of Aboriginal Settlement Authority's rules and regulations. The
separation and isolation of a Ruthie had affected her parenthood skills in the later years of
life. Thus, it gives a reflection of the importance of family life to develop necessary skills.
The overall has made me feel the significance of political and social decisions of
authority which can change hundreds of lives. It made me think about the importance of
standardised education and exposure which play a role in social constructivism for example;
their decision to live in a place or not, their decision to join the particular field of work, their
decision to marry, and their behaviour in particular situations (Jorgenson, 2016). It made me
ponder over the importance of family life, which develops vital cognitive skills. It is
imperative for the emotional stability of a child and future bonding. The family life improves
the psychological understanding of a child which Ruthie face in her early stages of life.

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References
Armillei, R., & Lobo, M., (2017). Parallel Emergencies' in Italy and Australia: Marginalised
and Racialised Romani and Aboriginal ‘Camp Dwellers. Journal of Intercultural
Studies, Vol. 38(5), pp. 560-575.
Bird, M. I., O’Grady, D., & Ulm, S. (2016). Humans, water, and the colonisation of
Australia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 113(41), pp. 11477-11482.
Gray, A., & Tesfaghiorghis, H., (2018). Social indicators of the Aboriginal population of
Australia. Pp. 44-73
Haag, O., (2018). From the margins to the mainstream: towards a history of published
Indigenous Australian autobiographies and biographies. Indigenous biography and
autobiography, Vol. 17(5), pp. 5-28 [Print]
Jackson, L. K., (2017). The complications of colonialism for gentrification theory and
Marxist geography. JL & Soc. Poly, Vol. 27, pp. 43.
Jorgenson, A., (2016). Environment, development, and ecologically unequal
exchange. Sustainability, Vol. 8(3), pp. 227.
Malaspina, A. S., Westaway, M. C., Muller, C., Sousa, V. C., Lao, O., Alves, I., ... &
Heupink, T. H. (2016). A genomic history of Aboriginal Australia. Nature, Vol. 538(7624),
pp. 207.
Patrick, R., & Moodie, N. (2016). Indigenous education policy discourses in Australia:
Rethinking the “problem”. In Global learning in the 21st century (pp. 163-184). Brill Sense.
Wilson, K., & Wilks, J., (2015). Australian Indigenous higher education: politics, policy and
representation. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, Vol. 37(6), pp. 659-
672.