How do Aboriginal social workers work with Aboriginal people and communities?

The Present Research This paper presents the findings of a national research project conducted in 2008 2009. The collaborative nature of the research project is outlined with an emphasis on how the research team worked together to ensure that close dialogue, cooperation, and power-sharing were maintained between the research partners, Aboriginal communities, and cultural advisors (Bacon, Bennett, Zubrzycki, & King, 2008; Bennett, Bacon, & Zubrzycki, 2009). The key findings are presented in detail with quotes from the participants identifying a range of practice experiences. Finally, the paper concludes with the presentation of a practice framework that can guide Aboriginal and non Aboriginal social workers who seek to work alongside Aboriginal people and communities. It is important to note that the research participants did not provide any comments that were specifically directed to social work with Torres Strait Islander people and communities. The Research Objectives and Processes The research was conducted by a team of three researchers, two Aboriginal and one non Aboriginal, who are all experienced social workers with a long-standing commitment and interest in working with Aboriginal people. Prior to the commencement of the project, the research team developed four key objectives that guided the research process. First, the research would be collaborative ensuring that both Aboriginal and non Aboriginal perspectives are influential and shared. This also models the importance of joint learning in order to develop new knowledge about social work practice with Aboriginal people that is informed by meaningful and culturally respectful relationships and dialogue. Second, the research needed to be comparative, in order to explore what differences, if any, exist between the practice experiences of Aboriginal and non Aboriginal social workers. Australian Social Work 21 The third key objective specified that the research project take a national perspective, in order to discern the potential influences of practice context on the way that social work with Aboriginal people is constructed and experienced. To achieve these objectives, the researchers recruited social workers who were practicing in a range of Australian States and Territories (Australian Capital Territory, Northern Territory, Queensland, New South Wales, and Western Australia), in urban, rural, and remote locations and employed in both Aboriginal specific as well as mainstream services. Finally, the generalist focus of the project supported the importance of documenting social work practice with Aboriginal people that involves a range of direct and indirect social work including individual, group, family, community, research, education, and policy practice. The generalist focus also incorporates social work that engages with a range of social problems and issues such as health, mental health, aged care, disability services, family support, statutory social work, youth work, women’s services, reconciliation initiatives, social work education, and the provision of support to Aboriginal students. The study was located within a collaborative research process, which was characterised by a strong commitment that the research was participatory and would bring tangible benefits to the research participants. These types of research processes have been well-documented in New Zealand, where writers such as Bishop (1996) have developed a Kaupapa Maori Research approach that ‘‘is based on a growing consensus that research involving Maori knowledge and people needs to be conducted in culturally appropriate ways that fit Maori cultural preferences practices and aspirations’’ (p. 15). Rigney, Warrior (as cited in Fredericks, 2007), and Martin (2008) are part of a growing group of Indigenous Australian researchers who assert the importance of decolonising, repositioning, and supporting Indigenous knowledge and research methods that delegitimise racist oppression in research and shift to more empowering outcomes (p. 47). In this project the need to work together in order to achieve empowering outcomes was a constant focus of the research team’s discussions and reflections. Spending time together talking through each stage of the research project and in particular how Indigenous knowledge, values, and assumptions were informing the non Indigenous researcher and vice versa were critical. The exploration of outsider/insider status of the researchers and their relationships with different Aboriginal communities also required attention. The insider status of the Aboriginal researchers, the nature of kin relationships within Aboriginal communities, and the values and expectations of reciprocity were all important influences on the research process. However, the positioning of the insider/outsider is not absolute (Lee, McGrath, Moffatt, & George, 2003), with insider/outsider dynamics affected by complex factors such as class, age, and gender. In the present study the researchers attended to these issues throughout the research through active reflection and dialogue regarding the potential of varying relationships and personal and professional boundary issues to emerge between the researchers and participants (Zubrzycki, 2009). 22 B. Bennett et al.

The Research Questions

The research questions that were chosen for the study focused primarily on exploring the nature of social work practice with Aboriginal people and communities. The key research questions were: . How do Aboriginal social workers work with Aboriginal people and communities? . How do non Aboriginal social workers work with Aboriginal people and communities? . What do both groups of workers recognise as being culturally sensitive and appropriate social work practice?