Assessment of Trauma for Aboriginal People.

Psychological trauma is pervasive for Aboriginal Australians, both in its impact on individuals and their families through the earlier processes of colonisation, and in ongoing ways through disadvantage, experience of violence, illness, injury and premature mortality. Traumatic experiences have impacted on individuals, families and communities and on culture. And these experiences continue. As Ober, Peters, Archer, &Kelly (2000) cogently argue "understandings and responses to acute trauma in Aboriginal settings today" need to be understood "within a framework of collective and cumulative traumatisation over several generations" (p. 242). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]