The Experience of Collective Trauma in Australian Indigenous Communities

Abstract

Objective: The concept of collective trauma has predominantly been applied in the context of natural and human disasters. This paper seeks to explore whether collective trauma offers a respectful way in which to explore and respond to mental health and wellbeing issues for Aboriginal families and communities.

Method: A review of the international literature was undertaken in order to determine the elements of collective and mass trauma studies which may have relevance for Indigenous communities in Australia.

Results: Findings support the proposition that the patterns of human responses to disasters, particularly in protracted traumas such as war-zones, shows strong parallels to the contemporary patterns of experience and responses articulated by Aboriginal people affected by colonization and its sequelae in Australia.

Conclusion: Adopting evidence-informed principles of family and community healing developed internationally in disaster situations may provide helpful ways of conceptualizing and responding in a coordinated way to mental health and wellbeing issues for Indigenous people within Australia.