Beyond Appropriate Norms: Cultural Safety with Indigenous People in Canadian Neuropsychology

Potential and Pitfalls: Settler Scholar Engagement in Indigenous Research

“…Western psychological approaches that are focused on the individual have often led to a cultural disconnect for Indigenous peoples, resulting in alienation and limiting access to care (Stewart, 2008). Gale et al (2022) described the ways that psychological assessments were developed according to Western knowledge systems, normed on non-Indigenous populations, and then administered on Indigenous peoples. Unsurprisingly, results have typically shown that Indigenous peoples test lower than normative samples.…”

“…Gale et al (2022) described the ways that psychological assessments were developed according to Western knowledge systems, normed on non-Indigenous populations, and then administered on Indigenous peoples. Unsurprisingly, results have typically shown that Indigenous peoples test lower than normative samples.…”

“…The authors argued that this pattern corresponds with higher rates of incarceration of Indigenous peoples, higher rates of Indigenous children in care, and the general pathologizing of Indigenous peoples. For example, intelligence tests such as the Binet-Simon were used as evidence of the racial inferiority of Indigenous peoples and justified eugenic processes of forced sterilization (Gale et al, 2022). According to Duran and Firehammer (2016), unless services are “deeply rooted in the life-world metaphor of the culture, effectiveness will be limited at best and more trauma will occur at worst” (p. 122).…”