Type:	Journal Article
Title:	Family Violence: an Australian indigenous community tells its story
Other Titles:	International social work
Authors:	Miller, Grace Cheers, Brian Binell, Margaret Coleman, Heather Gentle, Ian Taylor, Judy Weetra, Colin
Keywords:	Cross-cultural;Indigenous issues
Year:	2006
Publisher:	Mrs. C. Dave
Citation:	49 (1), 2006
Notes:	General Overview: This Australian article reports on research examining the issue of family violence as perceived and understood by an Indigenous community. It is argued that mainstream, western feminist perspectives do not provide adequate analysis of the post colonial context and the relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people that significantly contribute to Indigenous family violence. Objective: The paper aims to articulate Indigenous perspectives on family violence, its causes, impacts and prevention, through the lens of one Aboriginal community’s analysis of these issues. It argues that western discourse locates domestic violence in intimate private relationships between adults, whereas Indigenous people locate it in Indigenous communities, within a historical context of colonisation, oppression, dispossession, disempowerment, poverty and cultural social and geographic dislocation - as these affect individuals, families and entire communities. Methods: The research took place in the community of Ceduna, a remote western South Australian town with a population of 3,500; 24% of whom is Aboriginal. The study used an interpretive, participatory action research design in which the research team conducted in-depth interviews with Indigenous and non-Indigenous workers dealing with violence. The researchers also worked with focus groups involving members of the local Aboriginal community, elders, employees with the Aboriginal Community Development Employment Program and locally based government employees. The second phase of the research comprised a workshop in which results were fed back and developed into a community plan. Results: The study found that the further people are socially, linguistically and educationally from the language of family violence, the less sense they are able to make of it and therefore the more overwhelmed they are by it. The research identified distinctive elements within the community which were viewed as strengths, making a strong community development response to family violence both appropriate and powerful. These included: Conclusion: The article concludes that an Indigenous perspective of family violence, illustrated through this research, calls for a broadening of traditional understandings of such violence. It calls for a holistic community development approach to prevention that builds on community strengths. The authors recognise that a difficulty for Indigenous communities lies in convincing government that Indigenous communities are on the right track and that that their understanding of the family violence issues facing their communities is deserving of government legitimacy.
URI:	https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/14784
ISSN:	0020-8728
Appears in Collections:	Journal Articles

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