NURS1008 Deconstruction Essay: Analyzing Aboriginal Substance Abuse

This deconstruction essay critically examines the question of why Aboriginal people are perceived to be prone to alcohol and substance abuse. It begins by deconstructing key terminologies and challenging common assumptions and stereotypes surrounding Aboriginal identity and substance use. The essay explores the historical context of European colonization, the impact of discriminatory policies, and the introduction of alcohol to Aboriginal communities. It analyzes statistical data, revealing that while substance use is a significant issue, it is often linked to factors such as social disruption, lack of cultural identity, racial discrimination, and unequal access to healthcare. The essay questions the validity of the initial question, highlighting media's role in perpetuating stereotypes and the need for a deeper understanding of Aboriginal experiences to combat stigmatization. Ultimately, the essay concludes that substance abuse among Aboriginal people is a complex issue rooted in historical injustices and ongoing discrimination, calling for strategies to address these underlying factors and promote a healthier future for Aboriginal communities.

Running head: DECONSTRUCTION ESSAY
Deconstruction essay
Name of the Student:
Name of University:
Author Note:

1DECONSTRUCTION ESSAY
Deconstruction Essay
Topic- Why are Aboriginal people prone to alcohol and substance abuse?
Introduction
Deconstruction essay is a type of writing that helps to question the traditional
assumptions about the identity, truth and the certainty of a certain issue. In order to
understand the truth of a certain question it us necessary to break down the question in to its
constituent parts to find out the hidden meaning. In deconstruction normally the critic claims
that there is typically no meaning in the actual text but in various mutually irreconcilable
virtual truth developed by the readers. This essay would deconstruct the essay –“Why are
Aboriginal people prone to alcohol and substance abuse? In order to find out the truth behind
the statement, we will analyse the question critically supported by literary sources.
Terminologies
At first it is necessary analyse each and every terms of this statement. The most
important terms that catches the attention, is the chosen population; that is the “aboriginal
people”. Aborigines are the indigenous people of Australia that consisted of about 400000
aboriginal people. They consists of 2% of the total Australian people. The land of the first
people were invaded at the end of the 18th century having some really catastrophic effects on
them (Burridge, 2014). The history of European colonisation and unfair Australian policy
have had a devastating effect on these people that have contributed to problems like
discrimination, alcohol and substance abuse, violence , chaos and inequality (Sherwood,
2013). The second term is the alcohol or substance use. Alcohol is an umbrella term that is
used to describe a wide number of alcoholic drinks. Among the drugs, heroine and cannabis
are the ones that are mainly preferred by the Australians.

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Assumptions
Whenever we hear the word “aboriginal” the first image that comes to our mind are
dark skinned people with strange names who earn their living by cultivating crops and
hunting. The light of education has not touched them yet, they are community centred and the
mainly avoids any confrontations with the white men. These are some of the common notions
regarding the aboriginal people. In order to understand the truth one needs to be acquainted
with the actual aboriginal history of the past.
The aboriginals are the first people of Australia, who were believed to have arrived at
the Australian continent around 45,000 year’s age (Burridge, 2014). Before the invasion the
aboriginal people used to live throughout the Australian continent, with the highest
population residing along the coast (Burridge, 2014). Ever since the invasion of the British,
these first Australians were ousted from their land. This land loss have had terrible social and
physical impact on the aboriginal people. The invasions have sparked huge waves of diseases
that had killed thousands of people (Paradies, 2016). One of the most brutal step taken up by
the then government is that the aboriginal children were being taken away from the aboriginal
parents and were given to white families of missionary homes in order to erase the trace of
Aboriginal culture (Burridge, 2014).
It was necessary to explore the aboriginal past in order to evaluate the credibility of
the question and to understand the mind set with which the question has been placed. While
deconstructing the question another notable term that should be considered is the term
"alcohol'. Alcohol is a term that can be used to describe any forms of alcoholic drinks
available to the aboriginals. A stereotype feeling again comes in the way, that the Australian
aboriginal are subjected to have low quality of alcohol other than the normal alcohol
consumed by the white Australians (AIATSIS, 2011).

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According to Australian statistics, mental health problems for the Australian
aboriginals have been found to be 1.3 times higher than that of the non-aboriginals. Substance
use is an important contributor to mental health disorders (Parker & Milroy, 2014).
Furthermore about 1 in 8 aboriginals have reported having coronary heart diseases, which is
about 1. 2 times as likely as the non-aboriginal Australians (Australian Institute Of Health
and Welfare., 2015). According to Richmond et al. (2011), excessive smoking, drinking and
substance abuse have been found to be the main cause of cardiovascular complications
among the aboriginals. Some of the other risk factors that have been identified from the study
are behavioural, biomedical, economic and psychological factors associated to aboriginal life
style (Lambert et al., 2013). Furthermore, renal diseases and diabetes have also found to be
higher among the aboriginal Australians. In the year 2012-2013, chronic diseases have found
to be 3.7 times higher in the indigenous Australians as compared to the no indigenous people
(Australian Institute Of Health and Welfare., 2015). All these statistical data have made
people to assume that indigenous Australians are more prone to alcohol and drugs.
One of the common stereotype of the aboriginal people is that that they drink excess
alcohol and spend spent most of their time in smoking substances of drinking alcohols. The
alcohol and the substance addiction have not only lessened their life expectancy rate but have
also left their career at stake (AIATSIS, 2011). The stereotypes are also present within some
of the Australian health professionals that really affect the type of the care provided (Lambert
et al., 2013). Child abuse and family violence have been found to increase in the aboriginal
community which have led people to believe that in a society with high prevalence of rapes
and the violence, alcohol or substance abuse might be primary contributor (Shepherd et al.,
2013).

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Questioning the question
The question that has been asked in this essay that why are aboriginal people more
prone to drugs and alcohol. But the main question is whether the question is valid or true? Or
what do the actual Australian statistics say? Or even if the question is valid what are the main
reasons that are compelling the aboriginal people for becoming addicted to alcohol and
substance abuse. First it is important to understand how the trend of drinking was introduced
among the aboriginal people. It should be noted that the aboriginal knew mild use of alcohol
before the European invasion and used to prepare plant based alcoholic drinks (Sherwood,
2013). However the use of the alcohol among the aboriginals changed after the European
invasion. According to reports many aboriginal labourers were paid in terms of alcohol or
tobacco (Ecker et al., 2013). In 1800, one of the favourite sport of the white people residing
in Sydney was to ply the aboriginal people with alcohol and they are made to fight off each
other, often resulting in mortality.
Analysis
Many such Australian health surveys have shown that the aboriginal people are less
likely to engage in binge drinking than the non-aboriginals. There are many cause of
substance abuse among the alcohols-Some of the causes that has been identified is the
disruption of the social controls, lack of a group identity (Jayaraj et al., 2013). Controlled
force of on the aboriginal community, use of alcohol to reduce pain or anger following
bullying or childhood abuse. It should be noted that aboriginal adolescents have to face with
racial discrimination in terms of skin colour, employment, education and access to health
care (Balvin & Kashima, 2012). The reduced life expectancy of the aboriginals are always
not due to any kind of addiction but may be due to the unequal access to health care.
Furthermore there is a lack of processes for reducing tension and frustration occurring due to
poverty, discrimination, dislocation and racism (Nadew, 2012). Aboriginal people

5DECONSTRUCTION ESSAY
particularly suffer from loss of cultural status while the transition from a traditional to
westernised mode of life style (Balvin & Kashima, 2012). All these have led to the building
up of a resentment which makes them turn to alcohol (Nadew, 2012). According to the
director of the Aboriginal drug and the alcohol council of South Australia, fewer indigenous
people drink alcohol but those who consume them, take them at levels harmful to death.
Media often plays an important role in shaping up the stereotypes or the myths related to
aboriginal people. They often focus on the negative aboriginal issues. The education system
also facilitates the stereotypes against the aboriginal people where the students often learn the
negative aspects of the aboriginal history (Paradies, 2016). Hence there is a need for the
further investigation of their actual life style or grievances or the community issues to
eradicate any type of stigmatisation.
Conclusion
In conclusion it can be said that the aboriginal people have been the victims of racism
and discrimination since time immemorial. Most of the stigmatisation associated with
aboriginal life style has little truth in them. However addiction to alcohols and drugs among
the aboriginals are contributed by the constant stereotyping and the discrimination they have
to face in every sectors of the society. However this deconstructed essay has tried to throw
some light on the underlying gaps left in the treatment of the aboriginal people that they
receive from the white Australians, which further calls for robust strategies needed for
eradicating the predetermined assumptions and stereotypes concerning these first people and
help them to lead a healthy life.

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References
AIATSIS, (2011).Will the Real Aborigine Please Stand Up’: Strategies for breaking the
stereotypes and changing the conversation .Access date: 2.9.2018. Retrieved from:
https://aiatsis.gov.au/sites/default/files/products/discussion_paper/gorringe-ross-
fforde-dp28-real-aborigines-stereotypes.pdf
Australian Institute Of Health and Welfare. (2015).The health and welfare of Australia’s
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples: 2015. Access date: 2.9.2018. Retrieved
from: https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/indigenous-health-welfare/indigenous-health-
welfare-2015/contents/health-disability-key-points
Australian Institute Of Health and Welfare., (2015).Substance use among Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander people .Access date: 2.9.2018. Retrieved from:
https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/indigenous-australians/substance-use-among-
indigenous-people/contents/table-of-contents
Balvin, N., & Kashima, Y. (2012). Hidden obstacles to reconciliation in Australia: The
persistence of stereotypes. In Peace psychology in Australia (pp. 197-219). Springer,
Boston, MA.
Burridge, K. (2014). Encountering Aborigines: a case study: anthropology and the
Australian Aboriginal. Elsevier.
Ecker, U. K., Lewandowsky, S., Fenton, O., & Martin, K. (2014). Do people keep believing
because they want to? Preexisting attitudes and the continued influence of
misinformation. Memory & cognition, 42(2), 292-304.

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Jayaraj, R., Thomas, M., Thomson, V., Griffin, C., Mayo, L., Whitty, M., ... & Nagel, T.
(2012). High risk alcohol-related trauma among the Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islanders in the Northern Territory. Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and
policy, 7(1), 33.
Lambert, M., Luke, J., Downey, B., Crengle, S., Kelaher, M., Reid, S. and Smylie, J., 2014.
Health literacy: health professionals’ understandings and their perceptions of barriers
that Indigenous patients encounter. BMC health services research, 14(1), p.614.
Nadew, G. T. (2012). Exposure to traumatic events, prevalence of posttraumatic stress
disorder and alcohol abuse in Aboriginal communities. Rural & Remote
Health, 12(4).
Paradies, Y. (2016). Colonisation, racism and indigenous health. Journal of population
research, 33(1), 83-96.
Parker, R., & Milroy, H. (2014). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health: an
overview. Working together: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health and
wellbeing principles and practice. 2nd ed. Canberra: Department of The Prime
Minister and Cabinet, 25-38.
Richmond, R. L., Wilhelm, K. A., Indig, D., Butler, T. G., Archer, V. A., & Wodak, A. D.
(2011). Cardiovascular risk among Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal smoking male
prisoners: inequalities compared to the wider community. BMC Public Health, 11,
783. http://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-11-783
Shepherd, S. M., Adams, Y., McEntyre, E., & Walker, R. (2014). Violence risk assessment in
Australian Aboriginal offender populations: A review of the literature. Psychology,
Public Policy, and Law, 20(3), 281.

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Sherwood, J. (2013). Colonisation–It’s bad for your health: The context of Aboriginal
health. Contemporary Nurse, 46(1), 28-40.