La Loche Case Study

The social issue that I would like to address as a social worker is the epidemic of indigenous youth suicide in Canada. On the macro level, I believe this issue can be understood through two fundamental components: the residual effects of colonization trauma passed through generations and the effects of current colonial-based, neo-liberal institutional actions on indigenous youth.

There is alarming number of Indigenous Australia’s currently serving time in prisons and from 2001 the numbers has been increasing. According to Krieg (2006) Indigenous incarceration may be the direct consequences of inadequate housing, mental health, substance use, family violence and disability.

For decades, there has always been a very precarious relationship with aboriginal communities and the criminal justice system, especially with issues of indigenous victimisation and over-representation within the custody of police and prisons and the history of colonisation. Over-representation is the disproportionate numbers in which indigenous people come into custody compared to the non-indigenous. Although the justice system has been working together in order to overcome these deep-rooted issues and eliminate any negative associations with indigenous communities. This essay will outline the relationship between aboriginal communities and the police, the concerns associated with this relationship, why they are over-represented in the criminal justice system and the efforts that have been made to prevent this accumulating in the future.

Aboriginal people represent less than 3% of the total population in BC. Yet, they account for more than 9% of all suicides in BC (Chandler). The numbers of suicides amongst aboriginal youth are even more alarming – nearly one-fourth of all youth suicides in BC are committed by aboriginals and more than half of all aboriginal suicides are committed by youth (Chandler). The fact that indigenous communities in Canada have the highest rate of suicide of any culturally identifiable group in the world implies that these alarming statistics may not solely be a result of aboriginal communities belonging to a minority cultural group. I will attempt to build a speculative hypothesis behind the significantly high suicide rates amongst aboriginal

In this chapter, Kanal (2011) focuses on Suicide, Homicide, and Psychotic Crises. It appears the overall theme of this chapter is the examination of extremes associated with physiological or crisis issues in a person’s life. The chapter begins with a discussion on suicide. The author emphasizes that in many instances the act of killing one self is driven by a sense of isolation. Kanal (2011) examples veterans, returning from Vietnam and after the prolonged disconnect from this society, had extreme issues of re-assimilation. Sadly, many who commit suicide may feel isolated but in reality often have family and do not realize the ramifications of their actions, especially if they are successful. In examining the symptoms associated with suicide, the author claims that in many instances,

Since December of 2015, there has been an alarming rate of suicides to occur in Manitoba, Canada on the Cross Lake First Nation Indian Reserve. Since then six students have committed suicide while ten others have attempted it. Most of the people who have attempted suicide are ninth and tenth graders of that school and are currently on a suicide prevention list. The chief of the small community of only six thousand eight hundred individuals is calling a state of emergency. Shirley Robinson who is the chief told CNN, “There's so much hurt, there's so much pain. You can feel it in every direction of our nation. Only last year there was one suicide while in some of the recent past years there had been no suicides. The community said it is difficult

It is clear that Aboriginal people are in critical need of the proper services to cater to their trans-generational trauma. Understanding the Aboriginal’s culture, spirituality, and values will provide the social work counsellor the tools needed in being culturally competent. This paper will examine the historical background of the Aboriginal people, the conflicts social workers face with cultural differences, as well as methods to overcome these challenges

The usual causes, triggers as well as risk factors that are associated with suicide are poverty, trauma, substance abuse and relationship problems (Ridani et al., 2015). From 2001 to 2010, 4.2% of Aboriginal deaths was due to suicide while for all other Australians it only accounted for 1.6% of deaths (ABS, 2012). Furthermore, females of Indigenous Australian origin aged 15 to 19 years, committed suicide 5.9 times more than other female Australians while the ratio for male Indigenous people was 5.5 more than other male Australians and the suicide overall ratio for Indigenous people is twice more than that of non-Indigenous Australians. (ABS, 2012) A person is at an increased risk for suicide if they have mental health disorders and chronic diseases, are unemployed, isolation, social support is non-existent, history of depression and other behavioural factors as well (Evans & Brown,

In addition, the program offered healing to the community still healing from the legacy of colonialism. If the federal government kept funding the suicide prevention program there would not have been a spike in suicide rates in the community. Furthermore, a psychologist at the University of Victoria, Christopher Lalonde, believes the key to stopping suicides is rooted in the communities (McCue, 2016). From two decades of researching, he found that the communities that are the least “culturally healthy” have a higher rate of youth suicide (McCue, 2016). Also, the mental wellness of aboriginal youths is not only about being mentally healthy but also having a balance between Aboriginal youths’ families, communities, and the environment (Khan, 2008). Therefore, it will be better that Aboriginal suicide prevention programs are created by Aboriginal communities to target the prevalence issues in their communities with some assistance from the government to set it up and fund

Alcohol abuse among Aboriginal youth is a prevalent issue in Canada. This widespread drug abuse stems from social, cultural, and biological factors. As there are many negative impacts that come with alcohol abuse, treatment options are necessary. When treating Aboriginal youth for alcohol abuse, it is necessary for practitioners to take cultural context into consideration to ensure sensitivity and success. It is important to understand alcohol abuse and why Aboriginal youth are an especially high risk demographic. This helps to identify effective ways to diminish alcohol abuse in the Aboriginal youth population through behavioural therapy, drug therapy, and therapeutic recreation programs.

Jim is a 15 year-old Aboriginal youth who lives with his family and community on the outskirts of a country town. There is a long history of racism in the town, and the only work available is seasonal, with Aboriginal people the last to be employed. Jim has left school, and spends the day hanging round with his mates. There is a high rate of alcohol abuse and violence in the community, and recently one of Jim’s mates killed himself. Three of Jim’s

Aboriginal peoples of Canada have suffered exponentially throughout the entirety of history and proceed to do so in modern society. Much of the continued suffrage of aboriginal peoples is as a result of the Sixties Scoop and the Residential School System, as well as the lack of resources available to them. This has wreaked extensive havoc on the mental health of Aboriginal peoples, and has left excessive amounts of stigma and racism attached to Aboriginal Peoples, explicitly seen in the cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women.

Seeing that youth suicide rates amongst Aboriginal youth are five to seven times higher than non-Aboriginal youth, and Inuit youth are among the highest in the world, at 11 times the national average, there are several contributing attributes that should be further researched. (Health Canada, 2013) One of the contributing factors that are discussed in many Aboriginal courses is that of identity. Aboriginal youth who face high levels of intergenerational trauma due to the RS system often find themselves distanced from Aboriginal culture, without their mother tongue, and western culture. This alongside the negative portrayals of Indigenous peoples within media many times go much deeper to factors beyond an individual 's control and end up as a common root cause of suicide. One way for the federal government can combat this particular factor is through the emplacement of acknowledgment initiatives. Trying to reduce negative stigmas and stereotypes as well, to educate, can help promote healthy self-esteem and confidence levels within Aboriginal youth and result in the prevention of high suicide levels amongst Aboriginal youth. (CITE)

This essay endeavors to explain what risk factors are and discuss four key risk factors that may assist in explaining the over-representation of Indigenous people in the criminal justice system. These include family violence, alcohol and drug abuse as well as employment and

Anger, depression, and being bullied are all factors for a person to commit suicide. Psychologist have different types of studies to find solutions on why people commit suicide but they have not found a reasonable answer. They have not found a reason because each person have different experiences, and each one drives a person in different directions. Some victims of bullying would like to harm the person doing the bullying rather themselves. Some might want to harm themselves rather than the bully, and some might want to do both. Psychologist have to look at all aspects of life in order to test their hypothesis. In this paper we are going to think of studies and variables psychologist should look at in order to find solutions to a current event.