Indian residential schools in Canada: Persistent impacts on Aboriginal students’ psychological development and functioning.

Abstract

Indian residential schools (IRSs) in Canada subjected thousands of students to horrific experiences and contributed to serious problems for Aboriginal peoples and Canadian society. A model is proposed that uses existing psychological theory and empirical research to explore the possible impacts of IRS experiences. The model identifies four aspects of student experiences that were a direct result of Canadian law or policy and so affected all IRS students: parental loss, institutional care, forced acculturation and acculturation stress, and discrimination/racism. The model also identifies three aspects of student experiences related to inadequate or abusive IRS operations: maltreatment, trauma, and bullying. An exploration of relevant empirical findings is organized within the framework of this model. This model suggests important and not generally understood IRS psychological impacts, including the vulnerability of former students not only to (a) persistent mental disorders but also to (b) complex traumatic reactions arising from impaired relational attachment and developmental maturation, (c) negative cascades of events, and (d) social marginalization resulting from both Canadian societal racism and lack of opportunities to develop or retain Aboriginal languages and cultures. Such psychological difficulties may underlie and contribute to the poor welfare of many Aboriginal children, jeopardized Aboriginal languages and cultures, health problems among Aboriginal peoples, lagging Aboriginal educational and economic success, and the overrepresentation of Aboriginal peoples in the criminal justice system. The present model offers a framework for psychologists to participate in the truth and reconciliation process through research, education, clinical treatment, and advocacy.

“The More You Know”: Critical Historical Knowledge About Indian Residential Schools Increases Non‐Indigenous Canadians' Empathy for Indigenous Peoples

“…Although the schools closed in 1996, the suffering continues—not only for those who attended (the “Survivors”) but also for their descendants. As with other major intergroup harms, there is much intergenerational trauma (Barnes & Josefowitz, 2019; Barnes et al, 2006; Bombay et al, 2014; TRC, 2015d). For example, descendants of Indian Residential School Survivors have higher rates of depression and suicide than others in Canada (e.g., Bombay et al, 2011; Elias et al, 2012).…”

A journey researching prejudice and discrimination.

“…The negative psychological impact of Canadian residential schools on indigenous children was reviewed in a recent paper documenting harmful practices such as deficient institutional care, forced acculturation, acculturation stress, racism and discrimination, maltreatment, psychological abuse, bullying, and trauma (Barnes & Josefowitz, 2019). Using a model of risk resilience factors impacting psychological functioning, the review documented the ill effects of residential schools on indigenous children, adolescents, and adults, in domains such as mental disorders, complex traumatic reactions, lifelong negative cascading of events, poor educational achievement, and marginalisation.…”

Indigenous and non‐Indigenous parents separated from their children and experiencing homelessness and mental illness in Canada

“…The main purpose of these colonial processes is to separate Indigenous peoples from their land, cultures, values, languages, families, communities, and worldviews, and to impose Euro‐Western systems of governance, language, culture, and religion (Connors & Maidman, 2001). Some of these processes included the: introduction of disease and addictive substances (Dickason, 1992; Morrison & Wilson, 1995); forced removal from their homes and land and the establishment of reserves (Connors & Maidman, 2001); mass removal of Indigenous children from their homes and placement in church‐run residential schools (Barnes & Josefowitz, 2019; Gone, 2013); and government‐administered mass removal of children from their Indigenous parents and placement in nonindigenous families through the child welfare system beginning in the 1960s—known as the “sixties scoop” (Blackstock et al, 2004).…”

“…The challenges faced by indigenous peoples in Canada, including homelessness, must be understood within the context of oppression through colonization. Colonization has included historical trauma (Gone et al, 2019), residential schools (Barnes & Josefowitz, 2019), and disconnection from one's culture (Thistle, 2017).…”