The Treatment of the Indigenous Australians in the Last Century - Research Paper Example

Reflective Evaluation-Ethics in Research on the Indigenous Australians Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Date Introduction In my ambition towards becoming an exceptional engineer, I have always regarded the indigenous groups in Australia (Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders) to bear paramount significance to the entire Australian community. As a result, I have found it necessary to integrate the interests of these individuals into the engineering researches conducted within their locality. In addition, I would endeavour to work in environments that draw me close to these community. According to the ethical guidelines of engineering when conducting a research, I have learnt that it is important to consider the contemporary realities of the Torres Strait Islanders and the Aboriginals Australians. As a prerequisite towards exhibiting the best interaction with these indigenous Australians, I have realised that it is proper to understand their cultural way of life and the treatment that they have received during the last century. In the first section of the paper, I have presented a brief overview about the treatment of the indigenous Australians in the last decade. In the second section of the paper, I have narrowed my attention to the impact of the treatment on the ethical practice of engineering. Finally, I have also provided a discussion of the effective ways that an engineer could use to communicate with the individuals after understanding the treatment of these people in the last century. The Treatment of the Indigenous Australians in the last century In an effort to understand the treatment of the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders in the last century, I realised that racism was the dominant impediment that the indigenous groups faced in Australia. The research revealed that interpersonal racism was the dominant form of racism experienced by the disadvantaged groups in Australia. During the research, I also learnt that there were some studies that identified systemic racism with virtually no studies addressing internalised racism. One of the research reports that I used to gather evidence of the racist treatment used racist responses to specific questions that targeted to assess racist beliefs and attitudes. From the responses, between 50% and 75% of the respondents gave racist responses to the questions (Dudgeon et al., 2010). While researching more on the racist treatment encountered by the indigenous people in Australia, I was surprised to realise that approximately 16% of the 5757 indigenous Australians reported at least an incident of racism over the past one year. To my greatest surprise, the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders that took part in the survey revealed that they felt that the racist treatment that they received emanated from the mere fact that they were indigenous Australians, a group considered to be inferior since the colonial era. I also considered it discouraging statistics to compare the results with the findings of a similar study conducted on the Torres Strait Islanders and Aboriginals Australians in 2003. According to the previous results, 18% of the respondents revealed to have encountered discrimination over the past twelve months (Dudgeon et al., 2010). As a result, they considered discrimination to be a personal stressor. To further my understanding about the racist treatment that the indigenous groups encountered, I also researched on the findings of the Western Australian Aboriginal Child Health Survey (WAACHS) conducted between 2001 and 2002. The survey termed the treatment to be discriminative or racist in the event that the child suffered denial of service or bad treatment on the mere fact that she/he was an Aboriginal. I found more disturbing results from the study. In fact, the survey revealed that 22% of the 1073 participants in the survey revealed that they had encountered bad treatment or denial service on the argument that they were Aboriginals. The study defined racism to be the discrimination as a result of ethnic origin. To gain sufficient convincing that the indigenous groups still encounter discrimination, I also came across a similar survey conducted in 2003. Just like the other surveys, the study revealed that 40% of the respondents having the Aboriginal origin reported having experienced emotional or physical upsetting due to the fact that they had the Aboriginal origin (Dudgeon et al., 2010). From the findings of the study, I decided to devote my personal input towards ensuring the fair treatment of all Australians on an equal basis without exhibiting discrimination based on the ethnic background. The impact of the discrimination against the Aboriginals on the ethical practice of engineering According to the findings of the research that I conducted on the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders, I developed the sense of appreciating and acknowledging cultural diversity and norms while conducting research so as to eliminate incidences of discrimination based on the cultural origin of individuals. Even though the indigenous people were majorly hunters and gatherers and lived traditional lifestyles prior to the arrival of the colonists, it is proper to understand that they are the original inhabitants of Australia. Moreover, they consider Australia to be their ancestral land. As an engineer, it is my responsibility to uphold research ethics during the entire research exercise to ensure the favourable treatment of the respondent population comprising of the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders. I have a firm belief that the definition of a set of tasks that define the behaviour of researchers during a study mission is not enough to avert incidences of discrimination based on races that may surface during the research. As a result, I recommend the narrowing down of ethics to individual behaviour and the cultivation of ethical behaviour in each of the members of the research team to realise better outcomes. According to Ermine et al. (2004), ethics are the rules that entail the proper behaviour of an individual, including the deep values that the person subscribes to and the understanding of one’s place in the reality spiritual order (Ermine et al., 2004). One of the most important points that I noted was that the engineering discipline conducts research majorly on industrial development issues. Therefore, all members of the research team that take part in the research should understand the fact that the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders depend primarily on a healthy natural environment as their principal source of their ability to meet various needs. As a result, any industrial development research that has a negative impact on their natural environment constitutes a direct infringement on their human rights and wellbeing in their natural habitat (Castellano, 2014). Therefore, I recommend an ethical regime that extends beyond mere research involving individuals to the understanding of all contentious aspects that may have an influence on the wellbeing of the indigenous groups. Effective Communication Strategies during the Research Out of the findings of the several surveys that portrayed the treatment of the Torres Strait Islanders and the Aboriginals, I realised that the individuals regarded a treatment as discriminative with regard to the communication that existed between their oppressors and themselves. As a result, averting incidences of discrimination during the research necessitates the proper understanding of the proper strategies of communicating with these indigenous individuals. I have come to understand that majority of the team members of a research team are outsiders that do not understand the expectations of the survey respondents. Therefore, rather than using the communication and engagement policies prepared for the community, it is proper for the researchers to unpack the community policies and derive individual policies that are effective in communicating to the indigenous people on an individual basis. The necessity emanates from the fact that discrimination complaints arise on an individual basis rather than a community one. As a research team, it is imperative that we should understand that the indigenous communities in Australia comprise of individuals with different historical and cultural ties (Putt, 2013). By so being, there are chances of the existence of strong loyalties and social schisms within the communities. Therefore, communicating with the individuals of the communities requires the integration of their cultural norms and practices to avert possible incidences of cultural conflicts that may render the communication to be discriminative as viewed by the indigenous people. In essence, the research team should understand the effective ways of communicating with the different groups of indigenous individuals that comprise of native title claimants and traditional owners, individuals married to the traditional owners, and individuals that have strong residential and historical attachment but do not have any land ownership ties among others. Conclusion From the research that I have conducted on the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders of Australia, I have found out that these indigenous groups encountered racism and discrimination in the last century. The surveys conducted at the onset of this century also reveal that the Australian society still considers the indigenous individuals to be a disadvantaged group based on their origin. Conducting engineering research in t eland of the indigenous Australians requires the understanding of their cultural values, norms and preferences. In particular, the research team should understand that the indigenous Australians value land and consider it to be their source of wellbeing. As a guideline towards proper ethical research, the study should not infringe on their human rights and wellbeing aspects. References Castellano, M. B. (2014). Ethics of Aboriginal Research1. Global Bioethics and Human Rights: Contemporary Issues, 273. Dudgeon, P., Wright, M., Paradies, Y., Garvey, D., & Walker, I. (2010). The social, cultural and historical context of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. Working together: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health and wellbeing principles and practice, 25-42. Ermine, W., Sinclair, R., & Jeffery, B. (2004). The ethics of research involving Indigenous peoples. Indigenous Peoples' Health Research Centre. Putt, J. (2013). Conducting research with Indigenous people and communities. Indigenous Justice Clearinghouse. Read More