The Experience of Collective Trauma in Australian Indigenous Communities

• Published in: Australasian psychiatry : bulletin of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2009-08, Vol.17 (1_suppl), p.S28-S32
• Main Author: Krieg, Anthea
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Australia; Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples; Health Status; Humans; Mental Health; Prejudice; Residence Characteristics; Social Environment; Wounds and Injuries - psychology
• ISSN: 1039-8562; 1440-1665; 1440-1665
• DOI: 10.1080/10398560902948621

Objective: The concept of collective trauma has predominantly been applied in the context of natural and human disasters. This paper seeks to explore whether collective trauma offers a respectful way in which to explore and respond to mental health and wellbeing issues for Aboriginal families and communities.Method: A review of the international literature was undertaken in order to determine the elements of collective and mass trauma studies which may have relevance for Indigenous communities in Australia.Results: Findings support the proposition that the patterns of human responses to disasters, particularly in protracted traumas such as war-zones, shows strong parallels to the contemporary patterns of experience and responses articulated by Aboriginal people affected by colonization and its sequelae in Australia.Conclusion: Adopting evidence-informed principles of family and community healing developed internationally in disaster situations may provide helpful ways of conceptualizing and responding in a coordinated way to mental health and wellbeing issues for Indigenous people within Australia.