Including Decolonization in Social Work Education and Practice

Authors

  • Andrea Tamburro

Keywords:

decolonization, post-colonial, Social Work education, child welfare

Abstract

Social service providers must support the recovery of Indigenous peoples from the effects of colonization. Therefore, social work educators must help decolonize our profession. Indigenous North Americans, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians have experienced colonization and its multigenerational impact.

Without an understanding of the effects of colonization, social workers, many of whom will work with Indigenous clients, will be less prepared to encourage positive change. A description of decolonizing Social Work practice and education through the application of post-colonial theory and approaches is provided. This approach can also inform Social Work with African-American and Indigenous Hispanic peoples since these groups have also been negatively affected by the oppression of colonization. The focus of this discussion is the application of post-colonial approaches to Social Work. The decolonization of Social Work practice, through the incorporation of Indigenous worldviews into Social Work curriculum including knowledge, skills, and values, which are needed for effective provision of social services, is demonstrated through reforms to Indigenous child welfare services.

References

AASW. (2010). Australian Social Work Education and Accreditation Standards. Retrieved from http://www.aasw.asn.au/document/item/100

Anderson, K., & Lawrence, B. (2003). Strong women stories. Toronto, Canada: Sumach Press.

Ashcroft, B. (2001). Post-Colonial transformation. New York, NY: Routledge. Ashcroft, B., Griffiths, G., & Tiffin, H. (2000). Post-colonial studies: The key concepts. New York, NY: Routledge.

Baikie, G. (2009). Indigenous-centred Social Work. In R. Sinclair, M. A. Hart, & G. Bruyere (Eds.), Wicihitowin: Aboriginal Social Work in Canada. Winnipeg, Canada: Fernwood Publishing.

Baskin, C. (2002). Circles of resistance: Spirituality in Social Work practice, education and transformative change. Currents: New Scholarship in the Human Services. Baskin, C. (2003). Structural Social Work as seen from an Aboriginal perspective. In W. Shera (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on anti-oppressive practice (pp. 65-79). Toronto, Canada: Canadian Scholars Press.

Baskin, C. (2005). Circles of inclusion: Aboriginal world views in social work education. Toronto, Canada, University of Toronto.

Baskin, C. (2009). Evolution and revolution: Healing approaches with Aboriginal adults. In R. Sinclair, M. A. Hart, & G. Bruyere (Eds.), Wicihitowin: Aboriginal Social Work in Canada (pp. 133-152). Winnipeg, Canada: Fernwood Publishing.

Baskin, C. (2010, April 2). [Anti-oppressive Social Work practice].

Battiste, M. (1996). Enabling the autumn seed: Toward a decolonizaed approach to Aboriginal knowledge, language, and education. Canadian Journal of Native Education, 22(1), 16-28.

Battiste, M. (2002). Decolonizing education in Canadian universities: An interdisciplinary, international, Indigenous research project. Canadian Journal of Native Education, 26(2), 82-95.

Battiste, M. (2004). Animating sites of postcolonial education: Indigenous knowledge and the humanities. Paper presented at the Knowledge Building in an Educational Research Community, Canadian Society for the Study of Education, Winnipeg, Canada.

Bhabha, H. (1994). How newness enters the world: Postmodern space, postcolonial times, and the trials of cultural translation. In The Location of Culture (pp. 212- 235). London, England: Routledge.

Blackstock, C. (2005). Same country: Same lands; 78 countries away. The First Peoples Child and Family Review, 2(1), 130-158.

Blackstock, C. (2009). The occasional evil of angels: Learning from the experiences of Aboriginal Peoples and Social Work. First Nations Child and Family Review, 4(1), 28-37.

Blackstock, C., Cross, T., George, J., Brown, I., & Formsma, J. (2006). Reconciliation in child welfare: Touchstones of hope for Indigenous children, youth, and families. Retrieved from http://www.cecw-cepb.ca/publications/640 CASWE. (2012). CASWE-ACFTS Accreditation Standards. Retrieved from http:// www.caswe-acfts.ca/en/Board_of_Accreditation_33.html

Chandler, M. J., & Lalonde, C. E. (2004). Transforming whose knowledge? Exchanging whose best practices? On knowing about Indigenous knowledge and Aboriginal suicide. In J. P. White, P. Maxium, & D. Beavon (Eds.), Aboriginal policy research: Setting the agenda for change (Vol. II, pp. 111-124). Toronto, Canada: Thompson Educational Publishing.

Cornell, S., & Kalt, J. P. (1998). Sovereignty and nation-building: The development challenge in Indian country today. American Indian Culture and Research Journal, 22(3), 187-214.

Cross, T. L. (Ed.). (1996). Cross-cultural skills in Indian child welfare: A guide for the Non-Indian (2nd ed.). Portland, OR: National Indian Child Welfare Association.

CSWE. (2008). Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards. Retrieved from http://www.cswe.org/File.aspx?id=13780

Deloria, V., Jr., & Lytle, C. (1984). The nations within: The past and future of American Indian sovereignty. New York, NY: Pantheon Books.

Dickason, O. P., & McNab, D. T. (2009). Canada’s First Nations: A history of founding peoples from earliest times. Don Mills, Canada: Oxford University Press.

Duran, E., & Duran, B. (1995). Native American post-colonial psychology. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

Duran, B., Duran, E., & Yellow Horse Brave Heart, M. (1998). Native Americans and the trauma of history. In M. Battiste & J. Barman (Eds.), First Nations education in Canada: The circle unfolds (pp. 60-76). Vancouver, Canada: UBC Press.

Eisner, E. W. (1985). The educational imagination: On the design and evaluation of school programs. New York, NY: Macmillan.

Fieldhouse, D. K. (1989). The Colonial Empires. London, England: Macmillian. Frideres, J., & Gadacz, R. (2008). Aboriginal Peoples in Canada. Toronto, Canada: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Gandhi, L. (1998). Postcolonial theory: A critical introduction. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.

Grande, S. (2004). Red pedagogy: Native American social thought. New York, NY: Rowman and Littlefield.

Graveline, F. J. (1998). Circle works: Transforming eurocentric consciousness. Winnipeg, Canada: Fernwood Publishing.

Harris, B. (2006). A First Nations’ perspective on social justice in Social Work education: Are we there yet? (A post-colonial debate). The Canadian Journal of Native Studies, 26(2), 229-263.

Hart, M. A. (2002). Seeking mino-pimatisiwin: An Aboriginal approach to helping. Halifax, Canada: Fernwood Publishing.

Hart, M. A. (2009). Anti-colonial Indigenous Social Work. In R. Sinclair, M. A. Hart, & G. Bruyere (Eds.), Wicihitowin: Aboriginal Social Work in Canada (pp. 25-41). Winnipeg, Canada: Fernwood Publishing.

Hoxie, F. E. (2008). Retrieving the Red Continent: Settler colonialism and the history of American Indians in the US. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 31(6), 1153- 1167. doi: 10.1080/01419870701791294

Indian Affairs. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.bia.gov/ Information First Nations people of Canada. (2003). Retrieved from http://www. ainc-inac.gc.ca/ach/lr/ks/rrds/fnpc-eng.pdf

Justice, D. H. (2004). Seeing (and reading) red: Indian outlaws in the Ivory Tower. In D. A. Mihesuah & A. C. Wilson (Eds.), Indigenizing the academy: Transforming scholarship and empowering communities (pp. 100-123). Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.

Loomba, A. (1998). Colonialism / Postcolonialism: The new critical idiom. New York, NY: Routledge.

Manuel, G., & Posluns, M. (1974). The Fourth World: An Indian reality. Don Mills, Canada: Collier Macmillan Canada, Ltd.

Moore, M. (Ed.). (2003). Genocide of the mind: New Native American writing. New York, NY: Thunder’s Mouth Press/Nation Books.

Payne, M. (1997). Dictionary of Cultural and Critical Theory. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.

Pinar, W. F. (2004). Introduction. In W. F. Pinar & R. Irwin (Eds.), Curriculum in a new key: The collected works of Ted T. Aoki. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Portley, M. (2000). The Indian Child Welfare Act: A primer. Arizona Attorney. Red Horse, J. G., Martinez, C., Day, P., Day, D., Poupart, J., & Scharnberg, D. (2000). Family preservation concepts in American Indian communities. Seattle:, WA The National Indian Children’s Alliance formed between Casey Family Programs and National Indian Child Welfare Association.

Said, E. W. (1978). Orientalism. Vancouver, WA: Vintage Books.

Said, E. W. (1993). Culture and imperialism. London, England: Chatto & Windus. Sinclair, R. (2007). Identity lost and found: Lessons from the sixties scoop. First Peoples Child and Family Review: A Journal on Innovation and Best Practices in Aboriginal Child Welfare, Administration, Research, Policy & Practice, 3(1), 65-82.

Sinclair, R. (2009). Identity or racism: Aboriginal transracial adoption. In R. Sinclair, M. A. Hart, & G. Bruyere (Eds.), Wicihitowin: Aboriginal Social Work in Canada (pp. 89-112). Winnipeg, Canada: Fernwood Publishing. Sinclair, R., Hart, M. A., & Bruyere, G. (Eds.). (2009). Wicihitowin: Aboriginal Social Work in Canada. Winnipeg, Canada: Fernwood Publishing.

Smith, L. T. (1999). Decolonizing methodologies:Rresearch and indigenous people. New York, NY: Palgrave, St. Martin’s Press.

State recognized tribes in the United States. (2011). Retrieved from http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_recognized_tribes_in_the_United_ States#Connecticut

Tamburro, A. (2010). A framework and tool for assessing Indigenous content in Canadian Social Work curricula. (Doctoral disertation). Simon Fraser University, Surrey, Canada. Retrieved from https://theses.lib.sfu.ca/thesis/etd6119

Tyler, S. L. (1973). A history of Indian policy (pp. 342). Washington DC: U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of Interior. U.S. Census Bureau. (2011). Overview of race and Hispanic origin: 2010. Washington, DC.

U.S. Code: Title 25: Indians Chapter 21 - Indian Child Welfare. (2003). vLex United States Retrieved from http://us-code.vlex.com/source/us-code-indians-1024/toc/23.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Indian Health Service. (2006). Facts on Indian health disparities. Washington, DC.

U.S. National Archives at Chicago, U.S. Department of Interior. American Indian urban relocation. Retrieved from http://www.archives.gov/great-lakes/education/ lessons/indian-relocation.html#background

Ungar, S. (1977). The destruction of American Indian families. New York, NY: Association on American Indian Affairs.

Weaver, H. (2005). Explorations in cultural competence: Journeys to the Four Directions. Toronto, Canada: Nelson.

Wilson, D., & Macdonald, D. (2010). The income gap between Aboriginal peoples and the rest of Canada. Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Retrieved from http://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/reports/ docs/Aboriginal%20Income%20Gap.pdf

Downloads

Published

2013-09-01

Issue

Section

Articles