Aboriginal and Social Work Practice the Primary Term Paper

Aboriginal and Social Work Practice

The primary points shared on how to practice with Aboriginal people is developing awareness and understanding of indigenous traditions and their wealth of knowledge. Social work is not restricted to the office and as a result, the practicing social worker must immerse themselves in the things that are important to the people. Genuineness is important, and the worker or helper must be willing to actively engage the indigenous people by allowing them to know who they are; and conversely, who they are not.

Traditional knowledge is important to acknowledge when working with the Aboriginals because there cannot be a real sense of 'helping' if the worker operates from conventional knowledge and disregards or minimizes the indigenous people's wealth of knowledge. Understanding the importance of spirituality and the relationship to the land is very important to the Aboriginals.Because imbalance has been created due to colonization and other extraneous factors, the Aboriginals seek balance, which can only be achieved through a connectivity to the life force; mother earth. Understanding the importance of the spiritual self is another important part of Aboriginal culture that without acknowledgement of, could serve to alienate the worker from those they are attempting to engage.

In order to prepare to work with Aboriginal peoples in social work practice, the practitioner must understand the importance of being a helper; a holistic helper. To that end, it is important to understand colonization and its history from the perspective of the indigenous people and how they have had to operate within that contextual framework. There has to be more than an intellectual understanding of the hurts caused by the colonization process, and the need for the indigenous people….....