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‘I Was Hurt, But Now I Am Strong’: The Story of a Cultural, Social, and Emotional WellBeing Program

Indigenous Research Ethics: Claiming Research Sovereignty Beyond Deficit and the Colonial Legacy

ISBN: 978-1-78769-390-6, eISBN: 978-1-78769-389-0

Publication date: 19 October 2020

Abstract

In partnership with the University of Western Australia (UWA), the strengths-based National Empowerment Project (NEP) brought together researchers from across Australia and began to address issues surrounding Aboriginal wellbeing and, in particular, the high rates of Aboriginal deaths by suicide. The NEP utilised participatory action research (PAR) and was concerned with promoting positive cultural, social, and emotional wellbeing (CSEWB) and building capacity and resilience within Aboriginal communities. Throughout the NEP, consultations with 11 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities led to the development of a CSEWB program. The program seeks to increase self-determination and empowerment, developing participants’ awareness of a variety of issues relevant to wellbeing. This enables participants to gain a greater understanding of the holistic nature of CSEWB and the complex influences on Aboriginal wellbeing at individual, family, and community levels. This chapter is concerned with the development and delivery of the CSEWB program within three community sites in Perth, Western Australia. Shared philosophical approaches of the CSEWB program, between UWA and Aboriginal communities were human rights and social justice, community ownership, community capacity building, a strong focus on resilience, empowerment and partnerships, respect for local knowledge, and the delivery of community consultations. Investigation into the impacts of the program are based in an anti-colonial space, employing Indigenous Standpoint Theory and PAR approaches. This chapter demonstrates the success of the CSEWB program, links this success to the vital importance of Indigenous research ethics, and positions the research within an empowering and capacity-building context.

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Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Langford Aboriginal Association, Relationships Australia WA and all Balga, Langford, and Kwinana community members who participated in the National Empowerment Project’s Cultural, Social, and Emotional Wellbeing program in the Perth region.

Citation

Dudgeon, P., Ryder, A., Mascall, C. and Boe, M. (2020), "‘I Was Hurt, But Now I Am Strong’: The Story of a Cultural, Social, and Emotional WellBeing Program", George, L., Tauri, J. and MacDonald, L.T.A.o.T. (Ed.) Indigenous Research Ethics: Claiming Research Sovereignty Beyond Deficit and the Colonial Legacy (Advances in Research Ethics and Integrity, Vol. 6), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 141-162. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2398-601820200000006010

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

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