Healing journeys: experiences of young Aboriginal people in an urban Australian therapeutic community drug and alcohol program
- 4 May 2022
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis Ltd in Health Sociology Review
- Vol. 31 (2), 193-212
- https://doi.org/10.1080/14461242.2022.2091948
Abstract
Disproportionately high numbers of Aboriginal young people access residential alcohol and other drug programs in Australia. While demand is high, these programs often have low numbers of Aboriginal staff. Residential programs, however, generally offer supports that reflect features of Aboriginal health care – holistic, group-based, connected to local communities, and addressing determinants of health. The qualitative research outlined in this paper was a collaboration between a mainstream residential therapeutic community program and two Aboriginal community-controlled organisations, and Aboriginal young people and researchers, with Aboriginal research leadership. It used an Aboriginal healing framework to understand the experiences of 12 young Aboriginal people in the program, triangulated with 19 key informant interviews. This provided an opportunity to understand how Indigenous knowledge about healing related to mainstream programs and the experiences of Aboriginal young people. This moves beyond individualist and deficit-focused conceptions of youth alcohol and drug use and centres Aboriginal cultures as healing. Findings point to the need for critically self-reflective mainstream organisations, a larger Aboriginal workforce with leadership roles, partnerships with Aboriginal Elders and organisations, and an investment in Aboriginal community-controlled alcohol and other drug services.Keywords
Funding Information
- Australian Research Council (LP140100429)
- Ted Noffs Foundation
This publication has 28 references indexed in Scilit:
- Examining the pathways for young people with drug and alcohol dependence: a mixed-method design to examine the role of a treatment programmeBMJ Open, 2016
- Trends in drug use among adolescents admitted to residential treatment in AustraliaThe Medical Journal of Australia, 2016
- Cultural interventions to treat addictions in Indigenous populations: findings from a scoping studySubstance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy, 2014
- Experiencing racism in health care: the mental health impacts for Victorian Aboriginal communitiesThe Medical Journal of Australia, 2014
- The experience of drug-dependent adolescents in a therapeutic communityDrug and Alcohol Review, 2010
- Peer and sexual relationships in the experience of drug-dependent adolescents in a therapeutic communityDrug and Alcohol Review, 2010
- Delivering culturally appropriate residential rehabilitation for urban Indigenous Australians: a review of the challenges and opportunitiesAustralian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 2010
- Emerging themes in Aboriginal child and adolescent mental health: findings from a qualitative study in Sydney, New South WalesThe Medical Journal of Australia, 2010
- Long-term effect of community-based treatment: Evidence from the adolescent outcomes projectDrug and Alcohol Dependence, 2010
- Culture in treatment, culture as treatment. A critical appraisal of developments in addictions programs for indigenous North Americans and AustraliansSocial Science & Medicine (1982), 1995