Description of the interviewee
The aim of this report is to interview a candidate of Aboriginal identity and explore the struggles he faces or is facing. The report starts with the description of the interview followed by the exploration of his experiences in life. Further, the report explores the interviewees’ social needs and based on that, the report considers the social support services available to the interviewee. After exploring and considering his life experiences, social needs and social support services provided, the report then identifies and analyzes the cultural factors.
These cultural factors are important to understand prior to recruiting people of different cultural or racial identity as it helps establish a respectful working environment. In Australia, racism is prevalent even though people claim that it no longer exists. Racism in Australia based on race, culture, ethnicity and skin color has been an issue for long and it still exists although subtly. People have shared their experiences of racial abuse in institutions and organizations in the country. It is therefore important for organizations to ensure an environment for the workers of different identity to their own where they could work without any fear. The report provides an interview analysis of an Aboriginal candidate in order to make readers aware of the cultural factors that must be looked upon while recruiting people of different ethnicity.
Description of the interviewee
The interviewee is a 35-year old Aboriginal man who hails from New South Wales, Australia. Warrin, an MBA in marketing from the Sydney Business School, University of Wollongong, is married and has a 5-year old daughter named Ellin as well. His wife, Jennie, is a healthcare professional in a regional NSW hospital that especially provides services for the remote Aboriginal patients.
Warrin is a sports enthusiast and loves playing and watching soccer. In fact, he was the best soccer player during his high school days and has even helped his team win several major tournaments. This is evident from the built he has – more than six feet with a well toned body. He has done various jobs after completing his post-graduation, which even include working as a high school teacher. Apart from that, he has worked as a marketing coordinator for a reputed furniture company in Sydney for two years. In addition, Warrin has been an advisor for LAF Group, a post that he held for one year.
In terms of hobbies, apart from watching soccer, Warrin loves playing guitar and compose music. He has special interest in Aboriginal music and loves listening to Christine Anu and Celine Dion. He also loves spending time with his daughter as he says that she is extremely funny and too smart for her age. About his wife, he shares that they have a great equation and understand each other very well. He had met his wife during his university days and fell in love with her at the first instance. Warrin adds that his daughter is a lot like Jennie, his wife.
Exploration of the interviewee’s life experiences
Hailing from the Aboriginal community, Warrin holds strong religious beliefs and has deep connection to his roots despite living in an urban city. His Aboriginal roots mostly influence his beliefs about love, loyalty, friendship and family. The “one community, many eyes” concept of the Aboriginal people has helped Warrin develop a strong sense of trust and loyalty for his people and others (Aifs.gov.au, 2018). The concept is taught to Aboriginal people during their childhood to help them “build trust and confidence in themselves and in others” (Aifs.gov.au, 2018). His views about health and wellbeing are also influenced by his Aboriginal exposure during his childhood. According to Warrin, being mentally healthy is very important as it influences the overall health of an individual.
Exploration of the interviewee’s life experiences
As described above, the interviewee is an Aboriginal man residing in NSW with his wife and a daughter. Being an Aboriginal, Warrin has had to face numerous difficulties while at school, in the university and in the previous workplaces as well. He had his primary education at non-government school in Gulgong, 300 kilometers from Sydney’s northwest part. During his student days, Warrin used to face bullying and harassment almost every day because of his Aboriginal background. He shares that he had a tough experience in life from a very early age.
He describes one incident where he was so scared of being bullied at school that he injured himself to skip school (Theconversation.com, 2018). At school, he says, he would be mocked for his accent, his skin color and what not. He used to be addressed as an ‘ape’ and ‘boong’, which is an extremely derogatory word used for Aboriginal people meaning infected or dysfunctional. He describes that the white students used to dislike him also because he was a bright student and loved by his teachers.
Warrin had a difficult time growing up in the remote region of NSW, as his community would have limited access to the basic amenities like water, shelter, and healthcare and so on. It has been found that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people die at a very young rate as compared to white Australians. One of the factors that contribute to this is the limited access to health and wellbeing services. Many Aboriginal Australians do not receive primary healthcare and that leads to increased morbidity and mortality. Warrin shares that even if Aboriginal people did receive healthcare services, these did not last long because of the lack or absence of Aboriginal healthcare practitioners.
Exploration of the interviewee’s social needs
While an adult, Warrin found that the brutality of racism against his community had reduced but it was still present. He had a great experience during his university days as he had the opportunity to meet people from different cultures. He made friends with people from the Asian and black community and had a Muslim friend as well. However, the most positive thing that had happened to him was that he had met many white Australians who had been very good to him. “Although most of them did not have any idea about my community, they did not make of fun of it either”, “they in fact showed interest in learning my background”, shared Warrin.
Nonetheless, he has faced racism in his adulthood as well, especially in his previous workplaces. Warrin shares that during his interview for the high school teacher post, he was asked questions that were direct insult to his Aboriginal identity. One of the interviewers had asked him whether he eats raw, dead animals or not. This had nothing to do with the requirement of the post but the interviewer had to ask this just to make fun of his identity, states Warrin.
Exploration of the interviewee’s social needs
Prior to exploring the social needs of the interviewee, it is important to understand what constitutes the social needs of humans. Maslow’ Hierarchy of Needs model is an appropriate model to understand the basic social needs of every individual. As per the model, human beings have physiological, safety and security, love and belonging, esteem and self-actualization needs. The physiological needs such as food, air, clothing, shelter and so on are the basic needs (Ozguner & Ozguner, 2014). Then, personal, financial and health security and safety are what human beings seek. Apart from that, humans also desire that they are accepted and valued. Self-actualization or realization of one’s potentialities and skills constitute other social needs.
Warrin, the interviewee has his physiological needs fulfilled, as he owns a house, has enough to provide himself and his family with food and clothing. His social needs regarding personal and financial safety and security are also fulfilled. In However, in terms of fulfilling his social needs related to health security, esteem, love and belonging, and self-actualization, Warrin has not been very fortunate. As he describes, health security is something that every individual must have and he cannot say that he had this security much. Warrin, like many of his people, has been denied the facility of having their own people around in healthcare facilities (Aihw.gov.au, 2018). He says that as an Aboriginal, he has some beliefs about personal health and hygiene that non-Indigenous people fail to understand. The presence of an Indigenous health practitioner makes it possible for them to express their problems without facing the problem of making the practitioners understand.
Aboriginal people also struggle to be accepted for what they are and who they are. They are in a constant dilemma of whether to mix with the majority or hold on to their roots. Warrin has faced similar dilemma in his life but he chose to hold on to his roots while at the same time incorporate the positives of the non-Indigenous culture. The sense of belongingness comes from the way people accept each other and it goes for the Indigenous and other minority races as well. A leading Australian news website had published an article describing the ways Aboriginal people feel the pressure to lose their cultural values and beliefs to become successful (Abc.net.au, 2018).
Being accepted and valued is another need that Warrin has missed. For most of his life, he has felt left out or ignored completely by the people he thought his own. He has been made to feel that he does not belong to Australia and that he must not enjoy the freedom here. Warrin shares that he had had feelings of abandonment and loneliness many times.
Consideration of social support services available
Social support services refer to the services provided to the disadvantaged group of the society. In Australia, Aboriginal people are offered social support services by the governmental as well as non-governmental organizations. These support services include issues like mental health, appropriate housing for children, relationship advice, parenting advice and so on (Lowitja.org.au, 2018).
The governments of Australia’s different states also provide various support services to the Aboriginal community mainly women and children. The Cumberland government in NSW provides social support services to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, which are enjoyed by Warrin’s parents as well (Cumberland.nsw.gov.au, 2018). These services include banking and payment related services, attending social events or same interest group gatherings, assistance with appointments apart from others.
Considering these social support services provided to Warrin and his family, it is important to incorporate those within the organization as well. The workplace must reflect the values of Australia as a nation with acceptance and value for everyone. It is important that the social support services provided to Warrin and other Aboriginal families be replicated by the organization as well.
Identification and analysis of cultural factors
Cultural factors refer to the factors that need to be considered while recruiting workers belonging to different cultural and ethnic backgrounds. These factors include language, traditions, beliefs, customers, principles, gestures and so on. In case of Indigenous people, the cultural factors that can be identified are:
- Self-determination
- Freedom from discrimination
- Acknowledgment of individual and communal rights
- Freedom from integration and cultural destruction
- Understanding of Indigenous folklore, traditional roles and responsibilities
After a clear understanding of these factors, it becomes important to analyze these factors and make sure that the work environment is ideal for the worker. Aboriginal people are very self-determined and this aspect could be utilized for positive outcomes. Making the working environment free from discrimination is essential in maintaining a safe and secure worker-client relationship. Further, the client must not force the Aboriginal worker to assimilate the popular culture thus destroying his own culture. Acknowledging the rights of the Aboriginal people is equally important while considering appointment of Aboriginal candidates in an organization.
Conclusion
To conclude, it needs to be stated that the interview with Warrin ended several misconceptions the interviewer had being a white Australian. Without any sound knowledge about the Aboriginal culture, it was difficult to understand Warrin as he belonged to Aboriginal community. However, the interview helped shatter several misconceptions about the Aboriginal people and their culture. The paper analyzed Warrin’s life experiences, his social needs and found that he, like many other Aboriginal people was talented, ambitious and knowledgeable.
The paper also analyzed the social support services provided to the Aboriginal people and the way it could be reflected within the organization. In addition, the report also identified and analyzed the cultural factors and found that these are important to consider ensuring a culturally safe working environment and a respectful worker-client relationship.
References:
Abc.net.au. (2018). Aboriginal people ‘pressured to lose culture’, report suggests. Retrieved from https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-27/aboriginal-people-pressured-to-lose-culture-study-says/7790928
Aifs.gov.au. (2018). Strengths of Australian Aboriginal cultural practices in family life and child rearing. Retrieved from https://aifs.gov.au/cfca/publications/strengths-australian-aboriginal-cultural-practices-fam
Aihw.gov.au. (2018). Access to health and services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, Summary – Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Retrieved from https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/indigenous-australians/access-to-health-and-services-for-aboriginal-and-t/contents/summary
Cumberland.nsw.gov.au. (2018). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) Social Support | Cumberland Council. Retrieved from https://www.cumberland.nsw.gov.au/services/aged-disability-services/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-atsi-social-support
Lowitja.org.au. (2018). Cultural determinants of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health roundtable | The Lowitja Institute. Retrieved from https://www.lowitja.org.au/cultural-determinants-roundtable
Ozguner, Z., & Ozguner, M. (2014). A managerial point of view on the relationship between of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and Herzberg’s dual factor theory. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 5(7).
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