Aboriginal Victimization In Canada

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The Aboriginal community in Canada have yet to distance their victimization as visible minorities in society, increasing their vulnerability of systematic discrimination through subliminal oppressive practices by the government. As victims of institutional suppression, the experience of Aboriginals demonstrates their disadvantage as a minority race in a country predominated by modern Western ideologies, limiting their progression to economic and social opportunities. To understand the experiences of the Aboriginal community, there must be an understanding of the colonial impact as a result of the Canadian government’s role in assimilating the Aboriginal culture within residential schools. The racial and cultural differences of the Aboriginal…show more content…
The perpetrators of the abuse were the administrative staff in the school and Aboriginal classmates, two groups that are figured to be trustworthy, leaving victims without resources to seek assistance (Feldthusen, 2008). The everlasting impact of their victimization continues to have an impact in today’s Aboriginal communities and as a result, regresses the state of the indigenous community. Their victimization to abuse would transcend to future generations, developing a cycle of paranoia and fearing for one’s…show more content…
As stated by Robert Merton in his strain theory, when individuals (i.e. Aboriginals) lack legitimate means to achieve their goals, they resort to illegitimate means (i.e. prostitution) to succeed (Hackler, 2012). The residential school did not provide a formal education to the Aboriginal students, socially creating high rates of poverty and unemploy-ment due to their lack of skills and education (Barnes et al., 2006). With no financial security and with limited access to one’s basic necessities, individuals deviate to illegitimate means to ensure they are accessing food, water, healthcare, shelter and etc., (Hackler, 2012). The strain theory results in the engagement of ‘survival sex’ – sex workers engaging in prostitutions because of the extreme need to attain shelter, drugs, food, clothes and etc., (Oppal, 2012). Without fundamental educational and occupational opportunities in the Aboriginal community, limited financial income parallels their need to enter the sex trade. The events of the residential school system and its impact through inter-generational trauma has the community in a state of normlessness, where Aboriginals are treated unequally in their pursuit for financial stability, making it difficult to provide for oneself, thus the reliance on
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