Voices of First Nations People : Human Services Considerations

Be a more effective human service provider when working with native peoples!

Voices of First Nations People contains extensive information on how issues such as gambling, drinking, homelessness, health, and parenting affect Native Americans. This text will help you more effectively provide and direct services, administer programs, develop policies, and conduct research on topics that are relevant to native peoples. Through research and case studies, this book explores the specific needs of Native Americans and aids human service professionals in creating more successful services for these clients.

Since practitioner effectiveness relies on the awareness of cultural identity, this text gives you insight into factors that form the Native American identity to help you understand Native Americans’ emotional and social interactions. With this knowledge, you will be able to offer the most appropriate services possible. Voices of First Nations People illustrates many of the challenges concerning Native Americans and discusses significant research findings in these areas.

This book covers many related issues, including:

• the gambling habits of adolescents and the relationship revealed between gambling, other high-risk behaviors, and self-esteem
• the components of alcohol recovery for Native American women
• The Seventh Generation Program, an intervention program that blends mainstream alcoholism prevention approaches with American Indian culture for urban American Indian youth
• the deleterious effects out-of-home placement has on children, such as psychiatric disorders, trauma, and alcohol abuse and dependence
• how cultural factors contribute to resiliency among oppressed populations and using the Ethnic, Culture, and Religion/Spirituality Questionnaire (ECR) Scale
• the effects of historical trauma on parenting skills of particular tribes and two intervention methodsfacilitating parental awareness to life span and communal trauma across generations and reattaching the individual to traditional tribal values
• the differences between urban Native Americans’ acculturation styles and identity attitudes

Voices of First Nations People also gives you insight into the specific health problems of Native Americans, including the increasing mortality rates due to alcohol and drug abuse, suicide, homicide, motor vehicle accidents, cancer, and child abuse and neglect. With suggestions on how you can help combat and alleviate the causes of these problems, Voices of First Nations People will help you successfully provide culturally sensitive services to Native Americans.

Marvin D. Feit, John S. Wodarski, Hilary N. Weaver