Beyond deficit: 'strengths-based approaches' in Indigenous health research.
Loading...
Date
2021-12-15
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Affiliation(s)
(Bryant, Botfield, Martin, Newman, Treloar, Aggleton) Centre for Social Research in Health, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
(Bolt) Charles Darwin University, Casuarina, NT, Australia
(Botfield) Family Planning NSW, Sydney, NSW, Australia
(Doyle) Centre of Research Excellence in Indigenous Health and Alcohol, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
(Murphy) Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
(Graham) Department of Infectious Diseases, Melbourne Medical School, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
(Bell) UQ Poche Centre for Indigenous Health, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia
(Bell) School of Public Health, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia
(Browne) School of Nursing, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
(Aggleton) Centre for Gender and Global Health, Institute for Global Health, UCL, London, United Kingdom
(Bolt) Charles Darwin University, Casuarina, NT, Australia
(Botfield) Family Planning NSW, Sydney, NSW, Australia
(Doyle) Centre of Research Excellence in Indigenous Health and Alcohol, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
(Murphy) Kirby Institute, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
(Graham) Department of Infectious Diseases, Melbourne Medical School, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
(Bell) UQ Poche Centre for Indigenous Health, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia
(Bell) School of Public Health, University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia
(Browne) School of Nursing, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
(Aggleton) Centre for Gender and Global Health, Institute for Global Health, UCL, London, United Kingdom
Year
2021
Citation
Sociology of Health & Illness. Vol.43(6), 2021, pp. 1405-1421.
Journal
Sociology of Health & Illness
Conference name
Conference location
Grant information
Abstract
Health research concerning Indigenous peoples has been strongly characterised by deficit discourse-a 'mode of thinking' that is overly focused on risk behaviours and problems. Strengths-based approaches offer a different perspective by promoting a set of values that recognise the capacities and capabilities of Indigenous peoples. In this article, we seek to understand the conceptual basis of strengths-based approaches as currently presented in health research. We propose that three main approaches exist: 'resilience' approaches concerned with the personal skills of individuals; 'social-ecological' approaches, which focus on the individual, community and structural aspects of a person's environment; and 'sociocultural' approaches, which view 'strengths' as social relations, collective identities and practices. We suggest that neither 'resilience' nor 'social-ecological' approaches sufficiently problematise deficit discourse because they remain largely informed by Western concepts of individualised rationality and, as a result, rest on logics that support notions of absence and deficit. In contrast, sociocultural approaches tend to view 'strengths' not as qualities possessed by individuals, but as the structure and character of social relations, collective practices and identities. As such, they are better able to capture Indigenous ways of knowing and being and provide a stronger basis on which to build meaningful interventions.Copyright © 2021 Foundation for Sociology of Health & Illness.
PubMed ID
34145599 [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=34145599]
Type
Article
Study type
Subjects
Research practice