Who and what does the stolen generation refer to? What are the sociological explanations that underpin this extreme example of state intervention in families?

    However, perhaps the most significant difference between the white settlers and the aborigines was that "aborigines from different regions, different tribes would not react in exactly the same way to a given situation. Each would respond in the light of his own upbringing and background”. In contrast, the white settlers had been taught how to act, through the socialisation process, and these norms would be followed all around the country, not just in specific groups. This is not to say that the aborigines did not follow the socialisation process, just that they were socialised to act within their tribe, not within the whole of society.

   This is partly to do with aboriginal history. Before the white settlers came, the aborigines had the land to themselves, and each tribe would have its own specific culture, its own way of behaving. Aborigines were not used to power, and, when the white settlers came, things changed dramatically for them. Read believes that “white people have never been able to leave aborigines alone”, and this may be true, mainly because of the power imbalance between the whites and the aborigines.

 

    Power is an important aspect in regard to the stolen generation, and the explanations as to why it occurred. Newman suggests that “power is the ability to intentionally influence others to act in a way that is consistent with your wishes, or even to change their beliefs, emotions, behaviours, and identity”. Newman has summed up an important motive of the white settlers. That is, they had more power than the aborigines, and thus were able to force their culture onto them, leaving many of them questioning their identity.

   Thus, power can be a dangerous thing. Newman argues that “within the family the educational system and all other institutions, someone has the power to get everyone acting in a ‘normal’ manner”. In the case of the stolen generations, the white settlers wanted to make the aborigines act in a way that they considered to be normal. They thought that if they placed aboriginal children in white families, they would be socialised into their lifestyle, before they had been fully socialised into the aboriginal way of life. Read asserts that “missionaries, teachers, government officials, have believed that the best way to make black people behave like white was to get hold of the children who had not yet learned Aboriginal lifeways. They thought that children’s minds were like a kind of blackboard, on which the European secrets could be written”.

    However, socialisation is an ongoing process, and one that the aboriginal children had already begun. Because people are “born into different cultural and social communities, they are socialised into different views of reality”. When people leave a culture, they must be resocialised into a new one. Thus, the white settlers were resocialising the aboriginal children into white culture.

    However, this was not easy for the children, who often felt as though they did not fit in. Because of the forced resocialisation into white communities, aborigines have “spent… (their) lives seeking acceptance in both the aboriginal and non-aboriginal communities, and sometimes…have not found it in either”. Further, the aboriginal children were not always treated well by the white families they were placed with. Rosalie Fraser discusses her life with a white family in her book shadow child, and the torment she went through was horrible, something she never got over.

   Looking at the harm the removal policies have had on the stolen generations, it is hard to see any justification in the removal of aboriginal children from their families. Perhaps, if their parents treated them badly, or were negligent towards them, then I could understand them being taken away to a foster home for a period of time. However, this was not what the policy was about. The government didn’t care what kind of family they came from, or how loving the child’s parents were. This is obvious in reading the stories of the stolen children, whose whole family were heartbroken when they were taken away. The policy was about imposing white culture on the aborigines in an attempt to breed out aboriginality, and I believe there is no justification for this.

   Thus, we can see that although the white settlers may have had their reasons for carrying out their policies, there is no justification for doing what they did on such a large scale. As I have illustrated, the repercussions on the aboriginal community were tragic, if not fatal, with many aborigines left questioning their identity. As Bird argues, “this attempt at assimilation was nothing but a policy of systematic genocide, an attempt to wipe out a race of people”, and it should never have occurred.

Bibliography

Aspin, LJ, 1992. Focus on Australian Society, Longman Australia, Melbourne.

Berndt, R, & Berndt, C, 1968. The World of the First Australians, Ure Smith, Sydney.

Bird, C (Ed), 1998. The Stolen Children Their Stories, Random House Australia, Milsons Point.

Carrodus, C, Tudball, L, & Walsh, T, 2001, Rabbit Proof Fence Study Guide (no publisher given)

Fraser, R, 1998. Shadow Child, Hale & Iremonger Pty Ltd, Alexandria.

Healey, K (Ed), 1998. The Stolen Generation, The Spinney Press, Balmain.

Kenworthy, C & Kensworthy, S, 1997. Changing Places. Aboriginality in Texts and Contexts, Freemantle Arts Centre Press, South Freemantle.

Kidd, R, 1997. The Way We Civilise, University of Queensland Press, Queensland.

Newman, DM, 2000. Sociology: Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life, Pine Forge Press, California.

Read, P, 1999. A rape of the Soul so Profound, Allen & Unwin, St Leonards.

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