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Building an Aboriginal Cultural Model of Therapeutic Residential Care: The Experience of the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 December 2014

Muriel Bamblett ,
Maureen Long ,
Margarita Frederico  and
Connie Salamone
Muriel Bamblett
Affiliation:
Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Maureen Long*
Affiliation:
La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Margarita Frederico
Affiliation:
La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Connie Salamone
Affiliation:
Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
*
address for correspondence: Dr Maureen Long, Department of Social Work & Social Policy, School of Allied Health, La Trobe University. 3086, Victoria, Australia. E-mail: m.long@latrobe.edu.au
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Abstract

The provision of therapeutic residential care offers opportunities for traumatised children and young people to build relationships through establishing a safe and nurturing environment that can facilitate healthy recovery. For the Aboriginal child and young person demonstrating symptoms of trauma, cultural connections have been severed, relationships broken and there can be an overwhelming sense of abandonment. Aboriginal children's experiences of trauma go beyond the individualistic or familial and incorporate pervasive intergenerational trauma. This means that healing for Aboriginal children requires a therapeutic response embedded within an Aboriginal cultural framework. This paper presents the approach undertaken by an Aboriginal community organisation in developing a therapeutic residential care programme for Aboriginal children in their care. The model developed has implications for all therapeutic care programmes.

Keywords

therapeuticAboriginalout-of-home care
Type
Articles
Information
Children Australia , Volume 39 , Issue 4: ATTACHMENT AND TRAUMA INFORMED PRACTICE , December 2014 , pp. 206 - 210
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2014 

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