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WRIT1001 – Workshop 9 - SAMPLE ESSAY 1
SAMPLE ESSAY 1:
European colonization has had a devastating effect on the society of indigenous Australians.
In 1778, when the first European settlement arrived on this continent, the colonization has brought
tremendous changes to the indigenous society and has significantly influenced the indigenous area and people’s way of
life. Unfortunately, after the arrival of the white settlement since the 1700s, there has been a dramatic reduction of
aboriginal population. Although some people believe that European colonization is beneficial for the entire country to
unify all these different tribes, it is generally recognized that the society of indigenous Australians has been damaged
seriously and caused many issues, which are also have a negative effect on contemporary Australian society, particularly
in the areas of stolen generation and assimilation, crime rates and cultural conflicts.
The assimilation policy and “Stolen generation” caused one of the most significant problems. Firstly, from
around the turn of 20th century up to the 1970s, the government implemented the assimilation policy forced these
indigenous Australians to hold the same belief and values and adapted in European society and culture.(Kriekwn, 1999)
As it mentioned before, because of the colonization, the population of aboriginal people has been reduced by violent
clashes, so the majority number of the aboriginal people had to live with the white family.So there has been a “direct
and cross-generation trauma..., loss of kinship structures and detribalisation...” (Renes, 2011, P35) Besides, Children are
the most unfortunate victims during the time of implementing the assimilation policy. The children who were taken
from their indigenous family are called “Stolen generation”, and they have been suffered from both psychological and
physical issues even until now. “In Australia today there may be one hundred thousand people of Aboriginal descent
who do not know their families or communities.”(Renes, 2011 P.35) This shows that the stolen generation is separate
from their own culture, and most indigenous children have experienced loss of identity. Furthermore, Adoptive families
often treat indigenous children as slaves, and domestic violence and sexual abuse are frequently happened. “In 2008,
around one-quarter (23%) of Indigenous people aged 15 years and over reported being a victim of physical or
threatened violence in the last 12 months.” (Australia Bureau of Statistics, 2010) Consequently, the most common
psychological problems among indigenous children are depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, and these issues seem
to be long-lasting and on-going.
Nowadays, the increasing number of imprisonment rate of indigenous Australians is also a serious issue due to the
European colonization. According to Australia Bureau of Statistics(2010), over a decade, crime rates of Aboriginal
people increased over 600 Aboriginal prisoners per 100,000 adult Aboriginal population. According to reports, there are
some risk factors related to violence, including drug abuse and alcohol, unemployment and poverty. These problems are
originated from the disconnection with the homeland and the loss of identity, which is leading the indigenous people to
be social isolation, desperate and self-destructive. Moreover, Social isolation and a sense of psychological defeat are the
two results of loss of identity. (Herd,Homel and Lincoln, 1999 P9) Additionally, according to George(2013, P42)
“Violence in Indigenous communities can be ascribed to dispossession of land and traditional culture, the breakdown of
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a kinship system and Indigenous law, racism and economic exclusion.” It is obvious that those psychological issues are
the main reasons that why aboriginal people rely on alcohol and drugs, which leads to unemployment and poverty, then
the imprisonment rate will be increased. Besides, there is another factor that increased the imprisonment rate, which is
institutionalized racism. “Institutionalized racism is the cause of many behaviors that are defined as crimes by
indigenous peoples, resulting in imprisoned oversight for over a century and over-representation of indigenous peoples”.
(Cowlishaw, 1994, P71-92) Above all, what can be certain is that all of these high risk factors of aboriginal
imprisonment rate are the consequences of European colonization, which are directly or indirectly affected.
Cultural conflicts is also responsible for the devastating consequence between aboriginal and non-aboriginal
people. Although the conflict was mainly focused on the physical aspect, today it converts into a different form, it is
generally recognized that racism and distrust are the main problems when it comes to cultural conflicts. Firstly, it is the
racism that caused the issue of distrust. Because racism can affect health through many ways, which are reducing access
to positive health determinants, for instance, diminished self-efficacy and self-esteem; caused the high pressure,
substance abused and self-harm,as well as losing the social support. (Priest, 2011) As a result, indigenous peoples can
easily lose social contact and ability of working because of the negative consequences of racism.Furthermore, due to the
issues of distrust, there are number of social issues faced by indigenous Australians. For example, according to Jens
Korff, (2018), “Almost 50% of white Australians believe Aboriginal people are given unfair advantages by the
government...Almost 10% of non-Aboriginal people admit they would not hire an Aboriginal job-seeker.” Most non-
Aboriginal people believe that the indigenous are not well-educated, which is the reason why the distrust occurs.
Therefore, It is not difficult to see that indigenous peoples have always lived in an environment full of disrespect,
suspicion and mistrust.
In conclusion, the first devastating consequence brought by European colonization is “Stolen generation” and
assimilation. Unfortunately, adults have had to adapt the European society and there was a significant number of
children were removed from their own family and they have been the victims of domestic violence, sexual abused and
other issues. Moreover, the high crime rates related to the disconnection with their homeland and loss of identity.
Institutionalized racism is another reason of increasing the imprisonment rate. Finally, the racism, distrust and suspicion
have been spread all over the aboriginal society, which leads the relationship between aboriginal and non-aboriginal
people into a vicious circle. It is undeniable that European colonization has had a long-term devastating impact on
indigenous society.

Work cited
Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian Government. (2018). Retrieved from http://www.abs.gov.au/
Homel, R., Lincoln, R., & Herd, B. (1999). Risk and Resilience: Crime and Violence Prevention in Aboriginal
Communities. Australian & New Zealand Journal Of Criminology, 32(2), 182-196. doi:
10.1177/000486589903200207
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Jens Korff, C. (2018). Racism in Aboriginal Australia. Retrieved from
https://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/people/racism-in-aboriginal-australia
Kriekwn, R. (1999). The Forced Removal of Australian Indigenous Children from
their Families and its Implications for the Sociology of Childhood. The `Stolen Generations' And Cultural Genocide.
Priest, N. (2011). Racism and health among urban Aboriginal young people. BMC Public Health, 11(1). doi:
10.1186/1471-2458-11-568
Renes, M. (2011). The Stolen Generations, a Narrative of Removal, Displacement and Recovery. Lives In Migration :
Rapture And Continuity, 35.
Watson, I. (2009). Aboriginality and the Violence of Colonialism. Borderland, 8(1), 42.


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