Resistance to Assimilation: Expanding Understandings of First Nations Cultural Connection in Child Protection and Out-of-home Care

Krakouer, Jacynta; Nakata, Sana; Beaufils, James; Hunter, Sue; Corrales, Tatiana; Morris, Heather; Skouteris, Helen

doi:10.1080/0312407x.2022.2106443

Cited by 22 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…The overarching intent of the connection element of the ATSICPP is to prevent cultural loss and assimilation and to enable survival through the transmission of culture in OOHC (Krakouer et al, 2018(Krakouer et al, , 2022. This intent is played out in an OOHC environment where the risk of cultural loss and assimilation is heightened (Krakouer, 2022;Krakouer et al, 2022), as evidenced in the findings whereby young people were not immersed in their Aboriginal cultures while living in OOHC and after exit from OOHC. In this environment, journeys of culturally connecting become fraught and messy.…”

Section: Practice Recommendations and Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…OOHC itself can be experienced as a barrier to cultural connection, evidenced through the intergenerational removals that transformed the start of young people's journeys of culturally connecting. Arguably, the need for cultural connection has been produced in response to the cultural disconnection created by child protection and OOHC systems themselves (Krakouer et al, 2022).…”

Section: Practice Recommendations and Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Journeys of culturally connecting: Aboriginal young people's experiences of cultural connection in and beyond out‐of‐home care

Krakouer

2023

Child & Family Social Work

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With growing overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people in out-of-home care (OOHC), cultural disconnection is an omnipresent threat. Despite research and inquiries that have highlighted the risk of cultural disconnection for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children living in OOHC, limited research has explored Indigenous children and young people's experiences of cultural connection in the Australian context. Informed by Indigenous Standpoint Theory, this Aboriginal-led qualitative study sought to understand 10 OOHCexperienced Aboriginal young people's experiences of cultural connection over time, including after exit from OOHC, through retrospective interviews that employed a phenomenological lens. It was found that Aboriginal young people experienced cultural connection as a heterogenous process involving identity formation and the practice of culture, enacted as a choice over time. The complexity of Aboriginal young people's experiences of cultural connection over time gives rise to a new understanding of cultural connection as a journey of culturally connecting, wherein the risk of cultural disconnection is complicated by intergenerational child removals, dominant discourse about what constitutes Aboriginal culture, and removal from an Aboriginal cultural milieu.

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Section: Practice Recommendations and Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Practice Recommendations and Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Journeys of culturally connecting: Aboriginal young people's experiences of cultural connection in and beyond out‐of‐home care

Krakouer

2023

Child & Family Social Work

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“…In doing so, there needs to be more community‐based solutions at grass‐roots, not at the systems level, placing the decisions with Elders and First Nations community (Behrendt, 2003 p. 146). Implementing policy to allow First Nations community to decide who the young people's kinship group and placements should and do include, will encourage genuine continuation, connection and diversity across communities, which is vitally important (Krakouer et al, 2018; Krakouer et al, 2022). This will not only allow First Nations community to care for their children, but ensure that placements are genuinely recognised by the First Nations community as per the Indigenous placement principle.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(SNAICC, 2017). The ATSCIPP is the main safeguard within government policy, implemented initially in the 1980s, as a result of advocacy efforts from within Aboriginal communities (Dyer, 1980; Krakouer et al, 2022; Libesman, 2011; Tilbury, 2013). The ATSICPP consists of five dimensions – prevention, partnership, participation, placement and connection (SNAICC, 2017).…”

Section: What Is Kinship Care In the Out‐of‐home Care And Protection ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Kinship processes play a fundamental role in First Nations child development (Bamblett et al, 2012; Turnbull‐Roberts et al, 2021; Krakouer et al, 2022). The Bringing them Home (BTH) report strived for the implementation of the ‘Indigenous Placement Principle’ hierarchy, where placements should be made in accordance with First Nations lore and engagement with Elders and community.…”

Section: Situating This Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

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‘That's the bloodline’: Does Kinship and care translate to Kinship care?

Beaufils

2022

Aust J Social Issues

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Kinship for First Nations people is a fundamental, yet complex, element of one's culture, enabling both belonging and relationality, and extending beyond blood family and relations. Kinship is also recognized as important within out‐of‐home care (OOHC) systems, with kinship care being the predominant OOHC placement type in Australia (AIHW, 2021). However, when First Nations children and young people are removed by the state, and placed into OOHC, it is important to interrogate whether kinship placements enable cultural connection and continuity with First Nations ways of understanding Kinship. This article begins by contextualising current OOHC policy and practice in Australia where a westernised and homogenised concept of kinship care is touted as similar to First Nations notions of Kinship. Here, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle (ATSICPP) has become oversimplified by equating kinship care with relative care, thus creating ambiguity in care and placements in OOHC, voiding First Nations traditions and ways of understanding Kinship while a young person is in care. This article then reports the findings of qualitative interviews with 37 First Nations and non‐Indigenous people concerning the use of the term ‘Kinship’ in OOHC in New South Wales (NSW), how it is operationalised and how it is understood. Wide‐ranging experiences by participants concerning Kinship within OOHC were evident, thus demonstrating the imperative for a broader understanding of Kinship. This understanding needs to be applied within OOHC in ways that are consistent with First Nations notions of Kinship, as kinship care placements on their own are not enough to keep children connected in culture. The findings from this study show that the term Kinship is applied problematically within OOHC in NSW by equating legal and policy definitions of kinship care with Aboriginal ways of understanding Kinship. Ensuring First Nations traditions, practices and notions of Kinship are applied for First Nations children and young people in OOHC contexts is paramount.

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Understanding well‐being and safety for First Nations children and young people in the Riverland—Engaging with metic knowledge via a capability approach

Jones,

Cantley,

Quinn

et al. 2024

Aust J Social Issues

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Aboriginal culture is both a strength and a protective factor for Aboriginal children; yet, we continue to see disparities in education, health and well‐being outcomes. To improve outcomes for Aboriginal children and families, local cultural ways of knowing, being and doing need to be incorporated into policy and practice. The strength‐based capability approach draws on the experiences, needs and values of people in context to understand the opportunities and freedoms to be and do what is culturally valued. Adopting a “capability approach,” First Nations peoples from the rural Riverland region of South Australia were involved in culturally safe yarning circles to explore aspirations for their children's well‐being and safety. In doing so, a better appreciation of the personal, social, structural and environmental factors that impinge on the achievement of well‐being and safety was possible. We highlight how a capability approach provides a valuable tool for engaging with and embracing metic knowledge in policymaking and practice. A more meaningful understanding of safety, well‐being and “the good life” in a community is critical for ensuring that policy and practice efforts can be directed in ways that create outcomes desired by Community.

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Resistance to Assimilation: Expanding Understandings of First Nations Cultural Connection in Child Protection and Out-of-home Care

Cited by 22 publications

References 19 publications

Journeys of culturally connecting: Aboriginal young people's experiences of cultural connection in and beyond out‐of‐home care

Journeys of culturally connecting: Aboriginal young people's experiences of cultural connection in and beyond out‐of‐home care

‘That's the bloodline’: Does Kinship and care translate to Kinship care?

Understanding well‐being and safety for First Nations children and young people in the Riverland—Engaging with metic knowledge via a capability approach

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