The Violence Continuum
by Dr Caroline Atkinson
Aboriginal Male Violence and Generational Post Traumatic Stress. PhD Thesis by Caroline Atkinson
The extent to which an individual’s history of being exposed to violence as a child contributes to later-life incarceration for violent crime is explored within the Aboriginal Australian context. The author used information obtained during interviews with men who were incarcerated for violent offences to inform this question and to develop a psychometric instrument to accurately measure traumatic stress and symptoms in Aboriginal Australian people with cultural safety.
The results of her qualitative and quantitative analyses support the link between being exposed to violence and later life incarceration and identified the history of widespread traumatic stress and its trans-generational transfer as key contributors. The research suggests that the incarceration rates and stress levels will increase across generations without the implementation of an effective evidence-based program for change.
This book explains the cycle that feeds the Violence Continuum that afflicts Aboriginal Australian communities and will be useful for those studying trauma in its cross-cultural context; providing a strong foundation for the development of programs addressing trans-generational trauma.
Trauma Trails
by Emeritus Professor Judy Atkinson AM
The Transgenerational Effects of Trauma in Indigenous Australia
Providing a startling answer to the questions of how to solve the problems of generational trauma, Trauma Trails moves beyond the rhetoric of victimhood, and provides inspiration for anyone concerned about Indigenous and Non-Indigenous communities today.
Beginning with issues of colonial dispossession, Judy Atkinson also sensitively deals with trauma caused by abuse, alcoholism, and drug dependency. Sharing their stories, contributors also demonstrate the Aboriginal gift to the nation – Dadirri: listening to one another, and the way in which it provides a way forward.
By inviting Non-Indigenous people to sit with them in the circle, sharing stories, listening to and learning from each other, song lines emerge of a courageous journey, pointing us in the direction of change and healing.
Judy Atkinson is of Jiman and Bundjalung descent as well as having Celtic-German heritage, and is an Emeritus Professor at Southern Cross University, where she was Head of Gnibi College. She has worked within areas of Aboriginal community health and welfare for many years.
