This paper examines the events that occurred in British Columbia following the death of a First Nations child placed in a Kith and Kin arrangement. The paper, drawing extensively from internal government reports that were only just recently released to public, provides an “insider’s” view of government sponsored child welfare polices and practices in relation to First Nations child welfare agencies and the communities they serve.
{"title":"The politics of kith and kin: Observations on the British Columbia government’s reaction to the death of Sherry Charlie","authors":"G. Cradock","doi":"10.7202/1069524AR","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7202/1069524AR","url":null,"abstract":"This paper examines the events that occurred in British Columbia following the death of a First Nations child placed in a Kith and Kin arrangement. The paper, drawing extensively from internal government reports that were only just recently released to public, provides an “insider’s” view of government sponsored child welfare polices and practices in relation to First Nations child welfare agencies and the communities they serve.","PeriodicalId":44259,"journal":{"name":"First Peoples Child & Family Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47154339","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
C. Wekerle, E. Leung, A. Wall, H. MacMillan, N. Trocmé, M. Boyle
This article introduces readers to the Maltreatment and Adolescent Pathways (MAP) study. The MAP is a longitudinal study that follows active case files of mid-adolescents in a large urban child protective services (CPS) system. The MAP is a unique opportunity to collect information from teens about their physical health (e.g., sleep quality), mental health (e.g., posttraumatic stress disorder) and cognitive style (e.g., attention, memory). The MAP study samples the population of CPS teens on questions that are used in provincial teen surveys, allowing for points of comparison to non-CPS teens. The MAP tracks youth development over 2.5 years. Although the MAP currently has a very small number of Aboriginal teens, the responses of these teens may focus practitioner and researcher attention to priority areas for further research. This includes the investigation of how some research issues, such as maltreatment history, personal safety, relationship to primary CPS worker and suicidal ideation, may be cross-informative. It is known that teen risk behaviours cluster together, but it is important to understand the relationships among these variables. An understanding of these relationships can drive knowledge creation, as well as practice and policy change. Finally, the MAPstudy has succeeded given a successful collaborative partnership between hospital, university, and CPS partners who both strive to keep the youths’ best interests in the forefront.
{"title":"The Maltreatment and Adolescent Pathways (MAP) Project: Using Adolescent Child Protective Services Population-Based Research to Identify Research Questions","authors":"C. Wekerle, E. Leung, A. Wall, H. MacMillan, N. Trocmé, M. Boyle","doi":"10.7202/1069461AR","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7202/1069461AR","url":null,"abstract":"This article introduces readers to the Maltreatment and Adolescent Pathways (MAP) study. The MAP is a longitudinal study that follows active case files of mid-adolescents in a large urban child protective services (CPS) system. The MAP is a unique opportunity to collect information from teens about their physical health (e.g., sleep quality), mental health (e.g., posttraumatic stress disorder) and cognitive style (e.g., attention, memory). The MAP study samples the population of CPS teens on questions that are used in provincial teen surveys, allowing for points of comparison to non-CPS teens. The MAP tracks youth development over 2.5 years. Although the MAP currently has a very small number of Aboriginal teens, the responses of these teens may focus practitioner and researcher attention to priority areas for further research. This includes the investigation of how some research issues, such as maltreatment history, personal safety, relationship to primary CPS worker and suicidal ideation, may be cross-informative. It is known that teen risk behaviours cluster together, but it is important to understand the relationships among these variables. An understanding of these relationships can drive knowledge creation, as well as practice and policy change. Finally, the MAPstudy has succeeded given a successful collaborative partnership between hospital, university, and CPS partners who both strive to keep the youths’ best interests in the forefront.","PeriodicalId":44259,"journal":{"name":"First Peoples Child & Family Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-05-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42094726","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
As a co-investigator of one of the research studies in this issue(Building a Collaborative Understanding of Pathways to Adolescent Alcohol Misuse in a Mi’kmaq Community, p. 27), I have had a unique opportunity to work in a multiple capacity roles. In addition to being a community member and a research partner, I am also a graduate student in school psychology. My submission is intended to share my experiences in my capacity role as a First Nation support worker, particularly in research, with the hope of providing some guiding principles and practices when conducting research in a First Nation community. Based on my experience in conducting research on First Nation mental health issues, it seems oftentimes lacking in publications in scholarly journals. This makes it difficult when looking for sources for information. There could be a number of reasons for the deficiency in published information on First Nation issues. In my experience in consultation with community members, their initial reaction is “we have been studied to death”, or “researchers from outside the community come in and take information to use for their own benefit”, or “what do we get out of it?”. While all these responses might be accurate on some level, it leads me to the question as to why it seems so difficult to find information on First Nation issues especially in Canada.
{"title":"A Commentary on Alternative Approaches to the Research Process with Canadian First Nation Communities","authors":"D. Stevens","doi":"10.7202/1069462ar","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7202/1069462ar","url":null,"abstract":"As a co-investigator of one of the research studies in this issue(Building a Collaborative Understanding of Pathways to Adolescent Alcohol Misuse in a Mi’kmaq Community, p. 27), I have had a unique opportunity to work in a multiple capacity roles. In addition to being a community member and a research partner, I am also a graduate student in school psychology. My submission is intended to share my experiences in my capacity role as a First Nation support worker, particularly in research, with the hope of providing some guiding principles and practices when conducting research in a First Nation community. Based on my experience in conducting research on First Nation mental health issues, it seems oftentimes lacking in publications in scholarly journals. This makes it difficult when looking for sources for information. There could be a number of reasons for the deficiency in published information on First Nation issues. In my experience in consultation with community members, their initial reaction is “we have been studied to death”, or “researchers from outside the community come in and take information to use for their own benefit”, or “what do we get out of it?”. While all these responses might be accurate on some level, it leads me to the question as to why it seems so difficult to find information on First Nation issues especially in Canada.","PeriodicalId":44259,"journal":{"name":"First Peoples Child & Family Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-05-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45070441","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This paper considers the clinical issue of self-harming behaviours, defined as intentional self-injury that results in tissue damage. It is distinct from a suicide attempt, as self-harm does not occur within the context of a conscious wish to die. Self-harming behaviours among children and youth is a recent area of research. To date, studies indicate that in community samples, self-harming behaviours occur in as many as 35% of youth who are sampled (Gratz, 2001). Alarmingly, very little is known about self-harming behaviours among children and youth within the child protection system. This study, drawing from data gathered through a government-mandated reporting procedure of all children and youth in care,attempted to explore self-harming behaviours of children and youth in welfare care. While analyses did not focus explicitly on Aboriginal children and youth, it does consider differences in self-harming behaviours among minority and non-minority children and youth in care of the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto. Approximately half of all child welfare cases that go through the child protection system in Toronto fall under the responsibility of the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto. Although minority status was not significantly related to the number of self-harming attempts or threats, results suggested that minority children and youth in care were less likely to use puncture-type behaviour (cutting, scratching, stabbing) as a means of serious self harm. Results suggest that although self- harm may be a universal phenomenon, culture may affect how children and youth in care engage in self-harming behaviours. Direction of future research should consider between-cultural effects and more importantly, how these culture-specific differences may impact on children and youth’s self-harming behaviours.
{"title":"The Effects of Self Harming Behaviours of Youth in Child Welfare Care","authors":"C. Cheung, D. Goodman","doi":"10.7202/1069460AR","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7202/1069460AR","url":null,"abstract":"This paper considers the clinical issue of self-harming behaviours, defined as intentional self-injury that results in tissue damage. It is distinct from a suicide attempt, as self-harm does not occur within the context of a conscious wish to die. Self-harming behaviours among children and youth is a recent area of research. To date, studies indicate that in community samples, self-harming behaviours occur in as many as 35% of youth who are sampled (Gratz, 2001). Alarmingly, very little is known about self-harming behaviours among children and youth within the child protection system. This study, drawing from data gathered through a government-mandated reporting procedure of all children and youth in care,attempted to explore self-harming behaviours of children and youth in welfare care. While analyses did not focus explicitly on Aboriginal children and youth, it does consider differences in self-harming behaviours among minority and non-minority children and youth in care of the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto. Approximately half of all child welfare cases that go through the child protection system in Toronto fall under the responsibility of the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto. Although minority status was not significantly related to the number of self-harming attempts or threats, results suggested that minority children and youth in care were less likely to use puncture-type behaviour (cutting, scratching, stabbing) as a means of serious self harm. Results suggest that although self- harm may be a universal phenomenon, culture may affect how children and youth in care engage in self-harming behaviours. Direction of future research should consider between-cultural effects and more importantly, how these culture-specific differences may impact on children and youth’s self-harming behaviours.","PeriodicalId":44259,"journal":{"name":"First Peoples Child & Family Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-05-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46439101","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In recent years, policymakers and medical experts have expressed alarm about the growing problem of tobacco related deaths, most specifically from smoking cigarettes. Even more alarming is the rate of tobacco use among Aboriginal people and specifically Aboriginal youth. This paper explores how a holistic approach coupled with Aboriginal healthcare professionals is necessary for an effective smoking prevention program. Moreover, recommendations are provided based on this information to help devise an effective smoking prevention program encompassing all four aspects of health; mental, physical, emotional and spiritual.
{"title":"A Smoking Prevention Program for Aboriginal Youth","authors":"Daniel W McKennitt","doi":"10.7202/1069463AR","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7202/1069463AR","url":null,"abstract":"In recent years, policymakers and medical experts have expressed alarm about the growing problem of tobacco related deaths, most specifically from smoking cigarettes. Even more alarming is the rate of tobacco use among Aboriginal people and specifically Aboriginal youth. This paper explores how a holistic approach coupled with Aboriginal healthcare professionals is necessary for an effective smoking prevention program. Moreover, recommendations are provided based on this information to help devise an effective smoking prevention program encompassing all four aspects of health; mental, physical, emotional and spiritual.","PeriodicalId":44259,"journal":{"name":"First Peoples Child & Family Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-05-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47792006","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This paper describes the development of and pilot results for an alcohol abuse early intervention program targeting at-risk Mi’kmaq youth conducted in partnership with the communities in which these youth live and the schools which they attend. This intervention was based on a previously-established, successful psychoeducational and cognitive-behavioral approach for at-risk adolescent drinkers from the majority culture that focuses on differentpersonality pathways to alcohol abuse in youth (Conrod, Stewart, Comeau, & MacLean, 2006). Through partnership and collaboration with two Mi’kmaq communities, the original intervention was adapted to be culturally appropriate for Mi’kmaq youth. The culturally-adapted intervention included traditional Mi’kmaq knowledge and teachings in order to make the program as meaningful and relevant as possible in the partner communities (Comeau et al., 2005). The pilot results were encouraging. Compared to pre-intervention, students who participated in the intervention drank less, engaged in less binge-drinking episodes (i.e., 5 drinks or more/occasion), had fewer alcoholrelated problems, and were more likely to abstain from alcohol use. Moreover, students who participated in the intervention also reduced their marijuana use at four-month post-intervention, even though the intervention was specifically designed to target alcohol misuse. No such significant changes were observed in a non-random control group of eligible students who did not participate in the intervention. Future research should determine if this intervention is effective for at-risk youth in other First Nations communities across Canada, and whether the promising, but preliminary results with marijuana mean that the benefits of the intervention might extend to adolescents’ use of substances other than alcohol.
{"title":"An Alcohol Abuse Early Intervention Approach with Mi’kmaq Adolescents","authors":"C. Mushquash, M. Comeau, S. Stewart","doi":"10.7202/1069458AR","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7202/1069458AR","url":null,"abstract":"This paper describes the development of and pilot results for an alcohol abuse early intervention program targeting at-risk Mi’kmaq youth conducted in partnership with the communities in which these youth live and the schools which they attend. This intervention was based on a previously-established, successful psychoeducational and cognitive-behavioral approach for at-risk adolescent drinkers from the majority culture that focuses on differentpersonality pathways to alcohol abuse in youth (Conrod, Stewart, Comeau, & MacLean, 2006). Through partnership and collaboration with two Mi’kmaq communities, the original intervention was adapted to be culturally appropriate for Mi’kmaq youth. The culturally-adapted intervention included traditional Mi’kmaq knowledge and teachings in order to make the program as meaningful and relevant as possible in the partner communities (Comeau et al., 2005). The pilot results were encouraging. Compared to pre-intervention, students who participated in the intervention drank less, engaged in less binge-drinking episodes (i.e., 5 drinks or more/occasion), had fewer alcoholrelated problems, and were more likely to abstain from alcohol use. Moreover, students who participated in the intervention also reduced their marijuana use at four-month post-intervention, even though the intervention was specifically designed to target alcohol misuse. No such significant changes were observed in a non-random control group of eligible students who did not participate in the intervention. Future research should determine if this intervention is effective for at-risk youth in other First Nations communities across Canada, and whether the promising, but preliminary results with marijuana mean that the benefits of the intervention might extend to adolescents’ use of substances other than alcohol.","PeriodicalId":44259,"journal":{"name":"First Peoples Child & Family Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-05-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44116780","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Like Nature, research is a slow, steady, consistent process of growth. Research involves uncovering what exists. It also involves creating knowledge to understand natural development and testing out whether there is a good explanatory fit. With the issue of child maltreatment broadly, research has shown that there are multiple causes as to why it occurs – it can be an overload of parenting stress, a mismatch in parental personality with child personality, a misunderstanding of child capacity and reasonable expectations, ineffective sanctions for not maltreating and ineffective reward mechanisms for healthful, child-rearing. For Aboriginal populations, the causation web broadens to the level of resources available to the child, family, and community, as well as the mechanism by which such resources are obtainable in a proactive, preventative orientation. With various types of intrusions into the Aboriginal life, the challenges are to create the evidence base to understand the particular issues for Aboriginal youth, the best-fit models to conceptualize the process mechanisms, and the manner in which to intervene in process and show a demonstrated improvement in target outcome, as well as a demonstrated lack of harm. It is in the careful preliminary investigation that the most efficient and ethical models can be conducted. This involves all steps of deciding what to look at, at what stage of development, who the relevant stakeholders are, how to measure the impact of research, what are the necessary safety nets and, ultimately, how to move forward from knowledge gained. The preliminary stages of looking at existing evidence to craft the research question and the pilot phase of a research project are perhaps the most time-consuming, but most cost-beneficial elements of a longer-term vision of individual, family, and community health.
{"title":"Special Issue: Adolescent development, mental health, and promising research directions for Aboriginal youth","authors":"C. Wekerle","doi":"10.7202/1069456AR","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7202/1069456AR","url":null,"abstract":"Like Nature, research is a slow, steady, consistent process of growth. Research involves uncovering what exists. It also involves creating knowledge to understand natural development and testing out whether there is a good explanatory fit. With the issue of child maltreatment broadly, research has shown that there are multiple causes as to why it occurs – it can be an overload of parenting stress, a mismatch in parental personality with child personality, a misunderstanding of child capacity and reasonable expectations, ineffective sanctions for not maltreating and ineffective reward mechanisms for healthful, child-rearing. For Aboriginal populations, the causation web broadens to the level of resources available to the child, family, and community, as well as the mechanism by which such resources are obtainable in a proactive, preventative orientation. With various types of intrusions into the Aboriginal life, the challenges are to create the evidence base to understand the particular issues for Aboriginal youth, the best-fit models to conceptualize the process mechanisms, and the manner in which to intervene in process and show a demonstrated improvement in target outcome, as well as a demonstrated lack of harm. It is in the careful preliminary investigation that the most efficient and ethical models can be conducted. This involves all steps of deciding what to look at, at what stage of development, who the relevant stakeholders are, how to measure the impact of research, what are the necessary safety nets and, ultimately, how to move forward from knowledge gained. The preliminary stages of looking at existing evidence to craft the research question and the pilot phase of a research project are perhaps the most time-consuming, but most cost-beneficial elements of a longer-term vision of individual, family, and community health.","PeriodicalId":44259,"journal":{"name":"First Peoples Child & Family Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-05-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49581166","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Adolescence is a period of development characterized by risk-taking, sensation-seeking, emotionally-influenced and independence-seeking behaviours. There is a move away from family and towards the social influences of peer groups. Emotionally-driven behaviours may override adolescents’ higher cognitive functioning during this time. Especially vulnerable are youth who have been the victim of high-impact trauma or chronic abuse and neglect. Specifically, the posttraumatic stress symptomatology that is often associated with experiences of abuse and neglect may impair the ability of youth to cope during this developmental period. This is where intervention by community workers may be used to support teens with a history of maltreatment, as they develop from children to adolescents and, finally, to adults. Part of such intervention includes violence prevention in families and in teen dating relationships, as well as directly addressing posttraumatic stress disorder symptomatology. This critical developmental period of adolescence presents community workers with an opportunity to intervene and guide the development of these youth, building upon resiliency factors, such as areas of individual mastery and empowerment and participation within the community. Aboriginal youth with a history of maltreatment present a special case for community workers. These youth have been subjected to intense acculturation pressures that do not exist for other adolescent populations, which create unique problems during their transition to adulthood. In order to intervene in the most effective manner, it is necessary to understand the psychological and physiological developmental processes that are unfolding in the adolescent brain. We discuss adolescent development in general and among Aboriginal adolescents, in particular. We present ways to support both groups through these challenging periods that are empirically-based and supported by research.
{"title":"Adolescence: A Window of Opportunity for Positive Change in Mental Health","authors":"C. Wekerle, R. Waechter, E. Leung, Monika Leonard","doi":"10.7202/1069457AR","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.7202/1069457AR","url":null,"abstract":"Adolescence is a period of development characterized by risk-taking, sensation-seeking, emotionally-influenced and independence-seeking behaviours. There is a move away from family and towards the social influences of peer groups. Emotionally-driven behaviours may override adolescents’ higher cognitive functioning during this time. Especially vulnerable are youth who have been the victim of high-impact trauma or chronic abuse and neglect. Specifically, the posttraumatic stress symptomatology that is often associated with experiences of abuse and neglect may impair the ability of youth to cope during this developmental period. This is where intervention by community workers may be used to support teens with a history of maltreatment, as they develop from children to adolescents and, finally, to adults. Part of such intervention includes violence prevention in families and in teen dating relationships, as well as directly addressing posttraumatic stress disorder symptomatology. This critical developmental period of adolescence presents community workers with an opportunity to intervene and guide the development of these youth, building upon resiliency factors, such as areas of individual mastery and empowerment and participation within the community. Aboriginal youth with a history of maltreatment present a special case for community workers. These youth have been subjected to intense acculturation pressures that do not exist for other adolescent populations, which create unique problems during their transition to adulthood. In order to intervene in the most effective manner, it is necessary to understand the psychological and physiological developmental processes that are unfolding in the adolescent brain. We discuss adolescent development in general and among Aboriginal adolescents, in particular. We present ways to support both groups through these challenging periods that are empirically-based and supported by research.","PeriodicalId":44259,"journal":{"name":"First Peoples Child & Family Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-05-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44462845","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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