NURS1008 Deconstruction Essay: Indigenous Health & Cultural Bias

This essay critically deconstructs the question, “Why don’t Aboriginal people take an interest in their own health?” It argues that such a question reflects racist attitudes, ignorance of the social determinants of health impacting Indigenous communities, and a lack of understanding of the historical context of colonization and its ongoing effects. The essay uses evidence to show how discrimination, poor access to resources, and the legacy of historical injustices contribute to health disparities. It highlights the importance of cultural sensitivity and addressing systemic issues rather than placing blame on individuals. The document is available on Desklib, a platform offering study tools and resources for students.

Running head: DECONSTRUCTION ESSAY
DECONSTRUCTION ESSAY
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DECONSTRUCTION ESSAY
“Why don’t Aboriginal people take an interest in their own health?”
The health status gap between the Indigenous Australians as well as the non Indigenous
Australians is one of the most crucial problems faced by the health department of the Australian
government. The life expectancy gap between the Indigenous Australians and that of the non-
native is seen to be about ten years. The former is also seen to have higher numbers of
respiratory disorders, mental health issues, diabetes, cardiovascular disorders as well as chronic
kidney diseases that the latter (Raman et al. 2017). Over the years, the Department of Health of
the nation had been introducing strategies as well as the campaigns and policies with
interventions addressing the health disorders of the Indigenous Australians and trying their best
to close the gap. “Closing the gap” had been one of the initiative going on for the last decade but
marked changes in the health status had yet not been observed. If one wants to know the factor, it
can be stated that improper funding had been one of the main contributor to the failure of
campaigns (Munn and Walker 2015). However, there are also many factors which when
researched would give out many shocking statements like that made above. The following
assignment will thereby show how this question and the one who is asking the question can also
be one of the contributors to the poor health status of the Indigenous Australians.
The question that is asked above shows the mentality of the speaker relating the word
“interest” with that “health”. It inevitably means that the speaker is trying to implement a notion
that the betterment of the health condition of the Indigenous Australians are in their own hands
but they are not trying to achieve better health as they are disinterested to do so. However, such
negative perceptions about the Indigenous Australians in turn states about their own mentality
rather than explaining about the viewpoints if the Indigenous Australians towards their own
health. This question and the tone used in the question shows a negative perception about the

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speakers mainly coming from sources who are not Indigenous Australians. In that regard, one
can analyze the source of this statement to be a non- Indigenous Australian who considers the
Indigenous Australians to be a different race or individuals completely different from their own
selves (Gwyne et al. 2016). In that sense, the deconstruction of the entire situation shows that
such people who make the comments are culturally insensitive and culturally biased. Such form
of attributes have been quite common in the nation with a certain cohort of the non Indigenous
Australians people portraying negative behaviors actions as well as verbally behaviors, racism,
discrimination and stigmatizations through their comments and actions.
In the health survey conducted in the year 2012 to 2013, it was seen that about 16% of
the Indigenous Australians have reported that they have been treated badly in the last twelve
months. Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet had conducted many surveys where they
have stated that discrimination is commonly witnessed with 40% of the individuals seeing others
to have been avoiding Indigenous Australians on the public transport and about 38% of the
people witnessing verbal abuse of the Indigenous Australians. About 31% of the people had been
seen to be witnessing employment discrimination against Indigenous Australians and about 9%
of the people state that they themselves discriminate the Indigenous Australians (Gray et al.
2018). One in four people for about 25% of the people do not agree that discrimination has
negative personal impact on the Indigenous Australians. The data also suggested most of the
people believed that it is acceptable to discriminate where 21% of the people had been seen to
move away from the Indigenous Australians when they try to sit nearby and about 21% of the
people admitted that they watch the action of the Indigenous Australians while they are
shopping. Therefore, it shows how stigmatization and discrimination had been embedded in the
thought processes and behaviors of the non-native people making them insensitive. Therefore, it

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is very common for the non-native people to ask questions like this as the roots of racism,
discrimination as well as stigmatization had made string connections with their view-points,
critical thinking power as well as their though process. Therefore, it becomes evident that such
people will never try to find out the main cause of their poor health conditions and thereby tend
to make such comments (Munns et al. 2016).
Moreover, analyzing the question from another perspective, another viewpoint can be
also noted which will give another angle to the discussion. It can be seen that the speaker who is
making the question is totally unaware of the condition of the Indigenous Australians in the
nation. They might be not aware that the present condition of the Indigenous Australians is such
that they do not have the decisive control on their own health. This means that they do not get
any opportunities where they would be able to choose between caring and not caring for
themselves. They live very poor condition life and have to suffer extensively to meet both ends
of the family (Rickwood et al. 2014). The different social determinants of health have been the
major contributors to their poor health condition and had made them to suffer from both physical
and mental disorders to large extent. They do not get proper scope of completing their education
for which they either live their education midway and as a result, they cannot develop their
health literacy for disorders.
Poor health literacy makes it difficult for them to practice healthy lifestyle and habits and
often expose them to risky behaviors. They also do not have proper employment opportunities
mainly because of discrimination at workplaces or due to their poor qualification background.
The governments also failed to arrange for effective employment options although they are
trying their best. All these result in boredom, depression, anxiety and financial difficulties
making them to take up smoking and drinking behaviors (Brown et al. 2015). They are also not

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aware of the negative outcomes of such behaviors and tend to practices them in their culture as
well as. All these lead to very poor health conditions making them to suffer for chronic disorders.
Moreover, they are also seen to belong to the low socioeconomic background where they also
face improper access to healthcare organizations. Culturally incompetent services and
remoteness lay the main role in their inaccessibility to healthcare. Therefore, again reflecting
back to the main question, it can be seen that it is not the “interest” but the “social determinants
of health” that play the main factors governing the health of the individuals (Shepherd et al.
2017).
The non-native Indigenous Australians are mainly not aware of the history of
colonization that makes them to ask such questions. They are not aware of the fact how the social
as well as economic impact of invasion had accumulated over the generations resulting in
tremendous impact on the financial and health condition of the Indigenous Australians. After the
colonization of the nation by the British, they started taking possession of the land, declaring that
is free land without possession and had conducted severe war with the native people with serious
impact on their population, their resources as well as with their morale (Durey et al. 2016). They
were severely tortured, oppressed and humiliated in their own land by driving them away from
their own land. Besides killing them, beating them abusing and sexually harassing the women
and many others, they took up many strategies that resulted in further degradation of their
condition. They started to poison their food with the intention of mass killing in order to make
the land free from them. The invasion of the British people also associated with the introduction
of different types of foreign disorders that were previously not present in the nation of Australia.
This included smallpox, influenza, measles, common cold, whooping cold and many others. It
was also seen that their immune systems were not able to fight with these illnesses off and

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therefore many people were seen to expire. Starvation took place as aboriginals neither could nor
roam the land to find their food resulting in the dying of many tribes (Kowal et al. 2015).
Alcohol was also introduced in the land without making Indigenous Australians know
about the negative outcomes. There were also situations where they were included in the flora
and Fauna act which were the highest level of humiliation that human beings could have
conducted over their same species. Such facts have resulted in dispossession, exploitation,
displacement as well as violation that had accumulated over the decades resulting in suffering of
the native people even to this generation (Irving et al. 2017). Therefore, it makes it evidence that
the speaker of such a question might not have a detailed knowledge about the history of such
exploitation faced by the Indigenous Australians. Hence, such question reflects the lack of
wisdom and enough knowledge of the history about the nation and it thereby shows their
ignorance about commenting negative points about the Indigenous Australians without knowing
their history (Sun and Buys 2016).
Deconstruction of the question has shown three important aspects of the health of the
Indigenous Australians. It was seen that the non Indigenous Australians are racist in nature and
high degree of discrimination and stigmatization against the Indigenous Australians had
contributed in making such baseless preconception about the Indigenous Australians. Moreover,
the social determinants of health faced by the Indigenous Australians are other fact that had also
affected their health making them to lead poor quality lives. Moreover, the question also shows
that the speaker is not at all aware of the history of colonization and its impact on the mental and
physical health to the Indigenous Australians. Therefore, such question asked by them is
insensitive and reflect the cultural biases that remain in the egalitarian nation of Australia.

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References:
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