Adjustment and Coping in Aboriginal People

Racial Discrimination, Cultural Resilience, and Stress

“…While the data were not amendable to teasing out the way cultural resilience operates to protect against stress, we speculate that this may be a product of several direct and indirect processes associated with core elements of enculturation: transmitting cultural traditions; increasing bonding and racial socialization, including the development of racial pride, unity and heritage, culturally relevant adaptive coping strategies and skills, a stable and positive racial identity, personal continuity and agency, meaning, sense of purpose, and self-esteem; and enabling community members to actuate cultural resilience. 52,61,75,77,89,96 Moreover, Aboriginal culture cannot be understood in the absence of a people's land and natural environment; the two are synonymous as there is a deep physical, spiritual, and emotional relationship with the land that is the foundation of the self and existence and lifeblood of Aboriginal well-being. 55,58,75 Despite the proposed mechanisms of the compensatory factor, we caution that the reduction in stress observed requires further efforts to clarify the protective role of cultural resilience in the presence of social risk factors, such as racial discrimination.…”

“…52,56 Beyond the traditional constructs in resilience research, the body of work on Aboriginal resiliency has begun to receive consideration, emphasizing Aboriginal-specific constructs (traditional activities and lands, environment, spiritual factors, degree of integration within Aboriginal culture, or enculturation) and their contribution to a host of outcomes, both positive and negative. 44,[56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72] Resilience centred on culture highlights the value of having a shared set of common beliefs and values, with core elements such as language, conventions, socialization, social institutions, enhancing survival, comfort, and psychological needs for meaning and significance. 70,71,73 The loss of culture associated with colonialism and assimilation policies among Aboriginal peoples in Canada have been the subject of great focus.…”

Strengths of Aboriginal Foster Parents

“…Following the arrival of Europeans in the later 1400's until confederation in the late 1800's, the population of Aboriginal peoples in Canada decreased by 80% (Blackstock and Trocme 2005) due to new diseases and limitations on mobility that led to starvation (McCormick and Wong 2006). Between 1874 and 1996, the Government of Canada initiated the residential school system where Aboriginal children were detached from their families, communities and cultures, forbidden to speak their language or practice ceremonies and exposed to neglect and abuse (Trocme et al 2004).…”

Home care for the homeless : experiences of infirmary clients at the Sherbourne Health Centre in Toronto

“…Many of her workshop points stem from conclusions she made during her stay at the Infirmary. McCormick and Wong (2006) write about the phenomenon of being selfless and productive when coming out of dire circumstances, calling this process 'selftranscendence.' They discuss this concept in relation to Canadian Aboriginals, but I feel this concept can be expanded to include several non-Aboriginal Infirmary clients.…”