1

The Psycho-social Implications and Ramifications of the Proposed Changes to The Child Protection Act.

Erik Spinney (Standing Bear N'Deh First Nations) 2nd March 2013

Introduction
The Psycho-social Implications and Ramifications of the Proposed Changes to The Child Protection Act. When making revisions or amendments to current laws the first principle of best practice should be held in paramount. The current changes being proposed have very serious implications which belie the rather passive prose in which they have been written. Particularly the Streamlining of adoption process which allows for broad interpretation of the revisions. The following document highlights these ramifications from a psychological, psychiatry and social point of view to the individual, the family, our society and our government. We have within our current legislation the means to deal with all matters pertaining to the welfare of children. These changes assist the adoptive parents only in so far as fulfilling the role of making the child a tradable commodity and the birth mother a sub-human; with a set of stripped-down set of human rights. These basic human rights are inviolable but are being duly denied by this revisionist legislation. The psycho-social implications of poor law reform are pebbles in a societal pond whose ripples eventually touch all in society in less than positive ways. This document briefly outlines these ramifications and proposes an alternate method of dealing with children in crisis. Remembering always that no International Charter of Humans Rights should be broken in the reformation of NSW State legislation.

The cause and Consequence

To begin to outline the cause and psychological timeline in relation to the majority of those affected by and coming from Single Parent/Broken Families, Adoption, Forced Adoption, Foster-care

backgrounds is complex in explanation and simple in its understanding. It be will written in a way that is a profile overview of each group. This is not to offend those that are affected but to show both the majority outcome and the consequential outcome both as an individual as well as generational and societal. These outlines and observational outcomes come from my many years being part of, speaking with, and working to resolve the issues related to those affected.

Single Parent Family: To be raised in a single parent family as a child you must learn to process and understand the circumstances that put you in this situation. You must learn how to process and determine who and what you can trust is true right and safe. You will in many cases be forced to choose which parent to remain connected to as they battle each other in the relationship breakdown and then the child custody and property settlement.

This psychological and emotional process done when young without the life experience to put things into realistic perspective, inevitably alters psychological, societal and emotional *perceptional awareness and interpretation. The baseline neural synaptic perceptional pathways created to process emotional situations later faced are flawed to the point of dysfunction. The learning of and simple reality of emotional processing skills needed to function within future friendships, relationships and raising children is overwhelming which leads to the person typically following one of two psychological and emotional pathways.

4 1. They either need to use control to the point of emotional separation and/or emotional and psychological disassociation or 2. They emotionally and psychologically submit to the will of another, opening the path of reinforced abuse and neglect or simply emotionally overwhelming any prospective partner to the point of relationship breakdown as well as unrealistic emotional expectations of their children and those around them.

The outcome of either is the same; As a child they felt powerless to change their circumstances and within this mindset are condemned or destined in most cases to repeat the same emotional and psychological processes they have been exposed to growing up. The victim in most cases will become the perpetrator. All human-beings are genetically and neurologically wired to seek and create a sense of feeling safe and secure within themselves and their environment. When this process is challenged, especially when young, children will always determine the psychological and emotional situation that causes them fear, harm and or neglect as their fault. They come to this conclusion through being taught and told repeatedly that the societal norm is to be part of a loving emotionally healthy family and they see that they are not. In most cases the emotional and psychological dysfunction is confined to personal feelings and within their relationships. Those with a close association with someone in this situation can truly see the inner turmoil but feel powerless to change the outcome. This turmoil leads to frustration ultimately to emotional separation due to self-preservation, thus reinforcing within the individual the negative associations of abandonment, lack of self-worth, which feeds their determined outcome of self-destructive behaviour.

5 Children do not have the emotional life experience to process a rational understanding especially in their developmental years (0-7 years of age).

The outcome of the above usually manifests one of three ways: 1. Emotional disassociation and self-destructive emotional and psychological decision making resulting in destructive work and social relationships, aggressive and or violent social behaviour often preferring aggression rather than discussion to resolve confrontation. Result; majority end up on welfare either through addictions, violent and abusive behaviour and or criminal behaviour resulting in incarceration and then criminal record reducing employability. 2. Emotional and psychological dependency resulting in majority ending up on welfare due to emotional and psychological episodes at some point in their lives usually after the second or third relationship breakdown, addictive emotional tendencies easily transferring to alcohol, illicit and prescription drug addictions, abusive self-harm i.e. cutting, excessive piercing and sadistic tattooing, unnecessary surgical and cosmetic procedures and self-destructive sexual addictions and behaviour. 3. With the support and open discussions leading to emotional and psychological awareness and understanding of what cannot be changed, together with the support for the single parent and the ongoing emotional evolution and involvement of the other parent as well as with the support of other family members, government policy and society in general, the negative and ultimately self-destructive neural limbic synaptic perceptional pathways are not reinforced to the point of dysfunctionality. They evolve into a functional human-being and productive member of society and community. Learning how to live with what has happened and within the journey of resolution and healing they learn to emotionally problem solve.

6 The forced and permanent removal of children from single parent families will not in any way resolve the problem and issues created by the breakdown of a parental relationship, all it will achieve is the permanent negative reinforcement of all self-destructive and self-harming perceptional emotional and psychological associations and understandings. (Backed up by the recent Federal Senate Inquire into Forced Adoption as well as the resent AFFIS study and acknowledged by all States and on the 21st of March 2013 by the Federal Government) Where proven neglect and/or abuse is present temporary removal and placement of the child within a safe preferably blood relative environment and the initiation of intervention and support for the single parent to learn, heal and resolve to be ready as soon as possible to resume the parenting role. If removal is permanent the parent will never recover, they have no reason to and neither will the child. They will remain on welfare for life and will inevitably have more children and the cycle continues with no obvious end.

The persecution of single parent families who through consequence not personal choice have ended up in the situation where they are unable to work as a result of recovering from an abusive neglectful and/or violent relationship and the caring of young children through relationship breakdown and are unable to work due to caring for young children through separation from family support base as a consequence of parental abuse and or neglect the untimely death of their husband or wife

7 Teenage pregnancy simply psychologically proven to result from the father emotionally and or physically abandoning his daughter within the eyes and perceptions of the daughter. Either due to relationship breakdown and/or unrealistic work /sport commitments. The daughter has the need to feel loved and be needed in the eyes of a male, due to the allowing and acceptance of over sexualisation within all forms of media 1+1=3 Growing up in a single parent family and living in a dysfunctional housing commission ghetto/estate, where the socio-economic demographic combined with the over concentration of dysfunctional people, sex-offenders, addicts, violence, and poverty. Lack of social and educational resources resulting in teenage pregnancy due to the fact they never had a chance because they are written off by society and that is all they know.

Reducing single parent's payments and support resources when they have no ability to support themselves any other way is beyond ludicrous, it is criminal in its neglect and is against the constitutional rights of any and all Australian citizens; To add the competitive game of politics has casualties, the people. If you choose to become a leader you listen to and represent all people not just the ones that serve your party or cause. With this in mind stating the obvious State Liberal politics, working to support Federal Liberals push to oust Federal Labor, by deliberately sabotaging the policy of educational and resource support for single mothers. Due to unrealistic childcare costs a single mother cannot re-enter the workforce until their children's age allows them to. By removing the support funding for all cert 2 and 3 courses within TAFE so that single mothers with the current cost of living have no hope or ability to gain any real meaningful education and therefore employment. Due to the concentration of those associated with this social demographic i.e., single mothers, with the financial constraints leads them to congregate in large numbers in low socio- economic areas. The consequence being due to the unrealistic

8 expectations of state and federal governments, to force single mothers back into the workforce and penalise them when they are unable to do so has opened a door not only to exploitation within the employment sector but low and unskilled jobs simply do not exist to the level needed within their socio demographic area. The outcomes are simple: 1. As is happening in Western Sydney right now, single mothers are forced into prostitution, drug dealing and theft to survive and feed their children. Community workers I have personally spoken with state an 80% increase in single mother prostitution with the Penrith Mt Druitt area in the last six months 2. To cope with the mounting pressure financially as well as all the ongoing and ever increasing costs to raise children, dealing with the ongoing parental battles over raising their children, mounting and completely unrealistic expectations placing pressure upon them by bad government policy and legislative changes, to cope, the majority will turn to alcohol, illicit and prescription drugs. The outcome and downward spiral of this is obvious. 3. The total and complete destruction of the family unit within welfare and low income families. 4. The continual reinforcement and creation of a lower class of citizen who democratic rights and civil rights are reduced to allow governmental procedural and legislative changes to pass into law. 5. Increased criminal activity, domestic violence, criminal neglect, social and societal anarchy (due to the large concentration of single mothers and their associates in housing commission Ghetto/estates), increased gang membership and activity. 6. The blowing out of the corrective services budget, the police budget, the mental health budget, the child welfare budget, the healthcare budget, the rehab and addictions support budget, the legal aid budget.

9 7. The increase of business insurance premiums to the point of potential collapse as claims and payouts from crime, theft, fire, violence and anti-social behaviour increase. 8. The creation of large ghettos and no go areas on the outskirts of most Australian cities. 9. The creation of generational abuse and neglect.

To reinforce an earlier statement; forced removal of children will not resolve this, it will only increase the drain upon the social welfare, mental health, corrective services, police budgets. Throughout history traditional indigenous communities and families have supported single parents and enabled them to raise their children in a healthy safe environment. We did this by never forgetting we are all equal and in the eyes of Creator we are all sacred. A person is not born bad they are taught to do bad things by those whose hurt has been forgotten. If you want a solution to the ever increasing problem and associative cost of single parent and dysfunctional families look to our elders in a good way for teachings and advice.

If you feel that this is not an option then accept you will continue to pay the social and financial cost one way or another. Either through what was stated above or through litigation and class actions as liability and breach of duty of care as well as what can only be classed as deliberate legislative removal of any single parents rights and abilities to raise their own children is and always will be present. Any attempt to legislate that right away will also be challengeable under constitutional law.

Adoption and Forced Adoption Mother:

The policy of adoption by its very nature will always be fundamentally flawed. It is based on an assumption of acceptance within psychological norms but will always fail as it goes against the genetically passed on neural limbic psychological framework that all emotional and psychological

10 perceptional formations, that is we all are wired to have a genetic connection to those that raise us, take that away and the consequences are real and tangible and cannot be ignored. Despite the obvious opposition and direct contravention of the natural relationship and connection between mother and child which is present in every living human-being for hundreds and thousands of years, a connection that is not purely based in the psychological components of the human mind it is neuro-chemical, pheromone triggered as in all living creatures with maternal instinct. The only real way that adoption can truly be accepted is if every child is adopted for several generations to develop the societal norms i.e. stories, TV and movies, media community, religions and beliefs that this is now the natural structure of all families. Thus influencing the genetically passed on neural limbic psychological framework and acceptance of what is socially accepted and normal.

Firstly: to challenge what is sociality accepted you must first create something society can accept; in the case of a mother who is young and unmarried and considered a financial burden to society and government and therefore needs to accept that the child needs to and will be removed, a series of processes are put into place to convince the mother that in the best interest of her child she needs to accept its removal. If and when she resists, these processes need to be reinforced to the point she will inevitably reach out to family and friends for support. This support base to support adoption policy also needs to be removed so the society that surrounds them has to be taught to see them as in the wrong. The only way a society can accept this is to create the perspective that this type of mother is immoral and therefore a sub-class of human. This perception of the mother is real and does not change after the child is removed, it stays with her the rest of her life. The family and support base, in justifying their decision to see the mother in the wrong, and witnessing the emotional and psychological affects the removal has upon her, will

11 for their own emotional survival reinforce continually that the mother made the mistake and the child who is no longer hers is better off without her.

This perception is carried from family to friends to the surrounding society. As in most cases religion was used to create and to justify this perception and to this day has carried the view that unwed mothers are loathed in the eyes of God and all good people. In saying this what chance has the mother to recover from this and fulfil the expectations of becoming a functional member of society? In my view none.

Secondly: due to the installation psychologically and the expected societal acceptance that the mother is in the wrong for allowing herself to fall pregnant and be unmarried the consequence this creates a fundamental internal belief system that they are unworthy and everything associated with what is considered a normal healthy life they actively sabotage. They feel due to failing their child, they have failed as a woman, as a mother and as a human-being and emotional and psychological implications of this are simple and obvious to anyone with any empathy and /or understanding.

Thirdly: Due to the trauma associated with the removal of her child and the continuing reinforcement of that traumatic experience a process of emotional freezing occurs, that is a large portion of the mother's emotional make-up remains at the point the trauma happened. This emotionally stunts any normal emotional growth resulting in an almost juvenile, over-reacting response to future emotionally confronting situations.

Fourthly: in the majority of cases, emotional freezing creates a psychological block in one aspect as a protection and in another, all the emotional expectations the mother has of a life with and the raising of her child added to by the natural psychological, emotional, neuro-chemical processes

12 triggered by becoming pregnant and through the birth of her child. As an act of psychological survival the brain will block neural limbic connections to the memory pathways and for want of a better term create memory voids and associative no go areas. This in turn creates the ideal framework for Pathological depression/grief, dissociative disorders and sociopathic behavioural patterns.

Fifthly: when the opportunity of reunion between mother and child (usually after several decades of negative reinforcement) some mothers refuse to the point of denial the birth ever happened. In these cases the child who is now an adult faces the complete and total reinforcement of all the negative things ever said to them by those that feel disgusted that any mother could give up their child and in some cases when medical family history is essential the child now adult has no recourse to find the medical answers needed to have a diagnosis of illness, prevention of child birth defects, awareness of cancer, diabetes, heart conditions, etc. This in itself shows some of the multi-generational effects adoption has. The other side where the mother is open to reunions, without prior counselling and support when the first meeting happens regardless if face to face or over the phone, the mental associative block her mind put in place collapses and without intervention and support on both sides the reunion will in most cases I have heard of will fail.

Sixthly: if the legislative changes the child protection act, the foster-care act, the adoption act and the single parent payments proposed by the NSW, QLD and potentially VIC state governments are fully passed, the subsequent increasing in the number of children removed from their mother and/or parents, then the required duty of care and ethical responsibility needs to be fully accepted by the above governments to monitor the emotional and psychological state of mind and well-being of the mother around the clock for several years or until sufficient coping mechanisms have been put in place, as due to the sheer number of potential triggers there are, she will be a real risk of self-harm

13 and/or suicide. Any failure to do so is a breach of duty of care and can result in the taxpayer having to fund litigation liabilities for decades.

Adoptees
In order to understand the affects adoption has on adoptee's we need to first break them into two categories, 1. Those adopted from birth 2. Those adopted as a child

Reason being, the difference between the two is; the order of the psychological trauma tree, meaning the priority order the adoptee's subconscious mind places the list of traumas in and the added traumas associated with removal at birth.

With those adopted from birth the trauma tree starts with the disruption and/or removal of the

Physiological, the natural physical processes of association and bonding through the laying of the baby on the mothers chest before the umbilical cord is cut and during the first breast feeding.

Neural-Chemical, the emotional trauma the mother feels associated with the immanent removal of her child, passed on pre-natal and is reinforced by removal of the baby.

Postnatal Hormonal, disruption of the normal hormonal processes associated with bonding with mother after birth.

Fundamental Neural and Limbic Synaptic Brain Development, disruption of the foundational brain processes associated with bonding, feeling safe, feeling part of, belonging to and identity.

14

With those adopted as a child the trauma tree starts with the trauma of removal and the subsequent abandonment and self-hatred that results from the feeling and association that the removal from their mother was their fault. The emotional and psychological consequence is the same. When a child faces the trauma of removal and abandonment regardless of age, it does not have the life experience to put the removal process into any rational perspective. The child/baby immediately feels terror which triggers adrenalin that psychologically, emotionally and physiologically puts the child/baby into threat, flight or fight and emotional sensory overload. The conscious mind shuts down and the subconscious mind takes control. The conscious mind has access and assessment of the physical senses i.e. touch, taste, sight etc. the subconscious mind does not as the conscious mind acts as a processor and filter first before the subconscious mind receives and begins to assess the appropriate response to external stimuli. With the subconscious mind assessing raw sensory data added to by the brain being in a critical developmental stage laying down the foundational neural limbic synaptic pathways of emotional interpretation, perception, processing and association, the complete emotional, psychological and perceptional formation of the brain is permanently altered and the predisposition to Associative and Dissociative psychological disorders Hyper-awareness Hypersensitivity Obsessive Compulsive Disorders Depression/Chronic Depression Learning difficulties Attention Deficit Disorder, ADD Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, ADHD

15 Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD

These are a real and common reality in the psychological make-up of a child post adoption. The associated cost in care/treatment is and will be ongoing and needs to be realised if adoption is allowed to continue as a government practice.

The predisposition to the psychological disorders noted above and their affect upon the development of the child's emotional and psychological make-up, bearing in mind that the manifestation of many of these conditions may not surface until later in the child's life or they manifest after a secondary traumatic event. For those children that these conditions start to present themselves during childhood many difficulties become apparent. The child's ability to function in a social environment i.e. school. The child's ability to gain an effective education to enable meaningful employment for life. The manifestation of socialisation issues resulting in the child facing persecution and bullying within school and outside of school. The real risk of juvenile suicide. The real risk of early drug and alcohol experimentation and addiction. The real risk of eating disorders through anxiety, frustration at not being understood, anger. The real risk of developing anti-social and destructive behaviour resulting in criminal behaviour and criminal records reducing employability later in life embedding the reality of a welfare mentality.

The manifestation of one of the above is real and cannot be ignored. The life-long effects upon employability, relationships and many other socialisation situations is real and the expense to

16 government will far outweigh any initial expense enabling the child to be raised by her or her mother regardless of the circumstances raising the need to remove a child for adoption.

As the removal and adoption of children occurs at many different ages, there also are many different ways the emotional and psychological effects of adoption can manifest within a person who has been adopted. It is difficult to clearly outline all the possible outcomes that can manifest as a result of adoption. The above are the more common effects adoption has on a developing child they are still just a few countless possible outcomes manifested as a result of adoption.

When truly and objectively looking at those who have been adopted today and are now adults we see that some have managed to make what can be called a successful life for themselves. A lot that make this claim if you really look at their lives and the lives of those that are around them you can clearly see the affect adoption has had, you see the effects manifest in the types relationships adoptee's have, and you also see the observational truth of the non-functional emotional and psychological perceptions adoptees have and their need to justify them.

In truth, the majority of adoption's fail and not necessarily as a result of abuse or neglect by the adoptive parents. Nor is it acceptable to place the entire burden upon adoptive parents and expect them to recognise the manifestation of and manage treatment and the cost of treatment as the emotional and psychological damage caused by the removal of a child from his or her mother becomes a conscious reality. The simple reality is, that government has failed in its duty of care when placing a child for adoption and enabling the adoption process to continue without advising the perspective adoptive parents of the likelihood of emotional and psychological harm adoption has upon the child they are about to adopt, as well as the associated cost expected of them when those issues become apparent.

17

This again opens the door of litigation against the government as the knowledge of the psychological and emotional damage created in the removal of a child and the placement for adoption has been known by government or should be known by government if they are going to create and or pass adoption legislation since the early 1920's.

The concept that a loving home will heal everything is clearly and simply untrue. In all the cases I have come across including myself the reality is when a child feels they are unworthy of love as a direct and predictable result of the trauma associated with the removal of that child from his or her mother the reflection of love from a loving family only succeeds in reinforcing the negative associations of self-worth and self-loathing.

Another reality facing adoptees is the emotional burden placed upon them by the perspective adoptive parents. In the past is was to fulfil the emotional expectations of a woman's need to have a child of her own and the expectation that society has of a woman without a child and the likelihood of her marriage failing. If a traumatised child reacts to the overwhelming emotional expressions when the adoptive mother first picks up the child by screaming and pushing away, in that very instant the adoptive mother feels that child has rejected her, the orders are signed that child is now in the care of those adoptive parents. The child remains with them and is a constant reminder of that rejection. The ensuing battle of personality and wills creates the breeding ground for many emotional and psychological issues and can and has in many cases destroyed the adoptive family's relationship with their adopted child as well as with each other. In the case of today's government policy to allow same sex couples to adopt, the simple reality of

18 the emotional expectation that having a child will somehow prove to society that a gay relationship is a real relationship is unrealistic at best. The consequence when that realisation becomes apparent and the rejection of the child they adopted becomes a reality. The psychological and emotional reinforcement upon the child will be almost impossible to resolve. To add it is not a child's responsibility to prove anything. Same sex couple need to accept that the only insecurity within their relationship is their own.

As government is the one that legislates and makes adoption possible, it is government that ultimately is liable for the outcomes adoption creates. It falls upon government under their duty of care, that as soon as the child is taken into custody the government is responsible for the welfare of that child. That responsibility does not end once adoptive parents take child home. It can be argued that the government has a responsibility under their duty of care to ensure that child is well integrated into the adoptive family and that the adoptive family has all the means and resources necessary not only to provide a healthy nurturing environment but the knowledge and resources to deal with any and all issues that arise from the emotional and psychological trauma created by the removal of that child from his or her mother, as the government is fully aware at the time of removal. Any claim otherwise is foolish as kidnapping laws have been around for centuries as well as it's common knowledge the emotional and psychological effect the loss of a child would have on its mother and it's just as obvious the effects removal would have on a child. To date no resources are available to deal with the emotional and psychological trauma associated with adoption as recognised by the recent Federal Senate Inquire Into Forced Adoption and has been recognised in all state governments through their resent apologies.

19

To add as State and Federal Governments already face the real prospect of massive litigation and class actions from those recognised to have suffered trauma as a direct result of adoption and as adoption policy has not changed to the point where (and it's not possible do so), the trauma of adoption is removed from the mother and her child; is seems ludicrous to even contemplate adoption as a solution to the single parent welfare problem and the removal of children at risk.

Foster-Care

In the case of foster-care the emotional and psychological trauma associated with adoptees is largely the same but is added to by what abuse or neglect has been perpetrated upon the child before removal and placement in a foster-care family. The effects of the associated trauma caused by removal and by the betrayal of mother/father child bond and trust leads to much the same predisposition to chronic mental illness and associative and dissociative mental disorders. The same consequential issues with socialisation and gaining an education are apparent as well as the risks of many of the same outcomes as adoptee's. The moral and ethical dilemma is how to deal with children that are in an abusive or neglectful situation. In this situation you are damned if you do and damned if you don't. In my opinion the removal is necessary but it is where possible placement with a blood relative for the time it takes to resolve the abusive situation within the home environment is the best option. Where this is not possible, temporary placement within a functional family, with the expertise to support the child and with the goal of returning to parental care once appropriate measures have been taken to resolve and monitor the parental situation.

20 If the parental situation is unresolvable then within existing family law are all the necessary legal mechanisms to place the child within a stable family on a permanent basis. After a magistrate has deemed parents are unfit to raise their child and after successful placement the child will need time to emotionally learn how to deal with everything that has happened. Parental access needs to be removed until 13 years of age and or requested by the child after 13 years of age. The reason for this is the child needs an appropriate time to gain enough life experience to begin to emotionally and psychologically process what is happening to them and the continual expectation for the child to be able to process this before age 13 years is unrealistic. In saying this the child will also need to have the necessary support throughout their childhood to learn how to do this and the foster-care parents need to also have the necessary information and support to create this understanding as they are the primary care giver. To simply remove a child and expect the emotional and psychological trauma to take care of itself, as well as to place the sole responsibility of resolution and expense upon the foster-care parents is unrealistic and fraught with problems. In reality there is no right answer when it comes to child abuse and neglect. Many if not all of the perpetrators were created from traumatic situations resulting from failures in and bad government policy. The evidence of this is simple, social, mental health and welfare support programs have never been a funding priority for government and are the first to be cut. As a result many have fallen through the gaps and/or not had their psychological issues recognised when they could be resolved but have been allowed to create more innocent victims within our society. With the acceptance and the recognition that there are and will be emotional and psychological damage done altering a persons perceptions, emotional and psychological behaviour, coupled with an appropriate level of ongoing support the risk of life-long damage can be reduced. To add with the resolution to help those affected heal to the point they can live an emotionally and psychologically functional life; will in most if not all cases break the cycle of abuse/neglect and

21 reduce the dependency upon welfare.

As welfare, at this time is only able to sustain the broken in a limbo of poverty, neglect and abuse which predisposes them to take revenge and become perpetrators themselves, the cycle continues.

To outline the need

To outline the need for support, counselling, mental health services and community based services for those affected by and coming from Single Parent/Broken Families, Adoption, Forced Adoption, Foster-care is no small task.

Even though the initial trauma/abuse is fundamentally different in each case the psychological, emotional, socio-economic behavioural and consequential outcomes are largely the same.

Psychology can only help to a point, that is to recognise what the individuals destructive behavioural patterns are, the outcome currently is to label them, then attempt within a clinical structure to resolve or limit the self-destructive behaviour and/or medicate to a point of social complicity and compliance.

Unfortunately, the clinical structure and approach of psychology does not work as well as it might look on paper. Firstly: In reality, the consequences, if purely reliant upon psychology and psychiatry to resolve all psychological and emotional issues created from trauma and/or abuse are firstly, the many side effects of medication either reduce a persons capability or remove their capability to maintain employment. Due to the clinical nature of treatment, the client becomes disassociated from their

22 own reality and family and in most cases they begin to self-medicate and resist ongoing treatment or lose all touch with reality, their family and children. Furthermore, they become lost in a world they can no longer function in or relate to. They end up permanently reliant upon welfare and slowly rot in a housing commission unit in a back-blocks of society.

Secondly: Where psychology and psychiatry fall down is the clients inability to receive the necessary level of assessment, treatment and support programs. The services available on paper either don't exist or are financially out of reach. With the limited services available by Medicare as well as, existing services being overstretched by under-funding and understaffed they are unable to cope with existing demand, resulting in ever growing waiting lists and entry refusal to programmes.

Thirdly: There is little or no support resources available to work with emotional coping mechanisms, emotional problem solving and the reintegration into functional society including the relationships with family, friends and community. With the heavy reliance upon medication, the effects and side effects reduce a persons ability to function within society therefore, reducing their employability and ability to self- fund the necessary resources in re building their life.

Fourthly: Psychology and psychiatry teach people to first disarm or de-sensitise through cognitive therapy, then avoid, and then cope with triggers and reflections associated with particular trauma and or abuse. In reality, on a subconscious level, most clients tend to associate their behaviour as their fault, in turn reinforcing their feelings of inadequacy and resolve that they are broken, beyond help and in many cases seek revenge upon the family, society and government for what happened to them. They

23 believe on a fundamental level that because of their past, they feel like an outcast and society that was supposed to protect them, failed, therefore, they feel they are owed and if not looked after, feel they have a right to take. They become experts in manipulating the welfare system to survive and in these cases the revolving door of welfare, addiction, dysfunctional behaviour, arrest, imprisonment and/or placement within a mental-health or rehab facility begins and remains for the majority, the rest of their lives. To add to this, becoming lost in a world they can no longer function in or relate to. They and in many cases their children end up permanently reliant upon welfare and slowly rot in a housing commission unit in a back-block of society.

In many cases with Single Parent/Broken Families, Adoption, Forced Adoption, Foster-care, the sheer number of triggers added to by the perceptional understandings created to survive trauma and or abuse resulting in the client, in most cases I have witnessed, or been informed about have a very disassociated and unrealistic view of life and relationships. The line between trauma perpetrator and family/community becomes so blurred that they treat everyone as a threat and either continually attack all who try to get close to them or they become so emotionally and unrealistically dependant that they drive those around them away.

These people develop within themselves various forms of self-destructive behaviours and addictions to fulfil a simple need. To prove beyond any shadow of a doubt that they are broken and not worth anything. They fixate upon all the strongest negative statements they have associated with those they perceive are in authority (and in most cases were in authority) and this negative rhetoric revolves continuously within the deepest reassesses of their mind. Actively sabotaging any attempt to change, resolve or heal.

24

The effects of this behaviour are not only isolated to the individual, but as many have had children and relationships over the years, this results in subsequent destructive behaviour being passed down from generation to generation.

A conservative estimate is for every one that has been broken emotionally and psychologically by experiencing the trauma and/or abuse will in turn through associative behavioural learning create five more. This estimate is derived from an individual having experienced and influenced either two failed relationships and three children or three failed relationships and having two children. I have personally helped many children whose original abuse instigated by a parent or partner who themselves was abused in one form or another falling into the category of those affected by Adoption, Forced Adoption, Foster Care, Stolen Generation(s), Forgotten Australian's broken families and refugee's.

To heal from abuse a person must first become the other side The Abuser Evil is not born it is taught

To add weight to the need for change within the entire approach of working with and resolving to stop creating more of those affected by Single Parent/Broken Families, Adoption, Forced Adoption, Foster-care. If we look at the most violent and sadistic offenders within our society we see their psychological profile is exactly the background I have described above. Yes, gladly they are in the minority, but everyday this situation goes on, is truly not taken seriously and is fed by continuing bad government policy is another day one more potential extreme offender can and will be created.

25

In mine and many others views I have spoken and worked with, all agree that you can attribute 8090% of all serious violent offenders, domestic violence perpetrators, rapists, child sex offenders, illicit and prescription drug addicts and alcoholics directly to State and Federal Government policies and or State and Federal governments failure to act within their mandate and oath of office in the best interest of all Australians citizens. This failure by the State and Federal government in their constitutional and moral duty of care will not magically disappear. It will grow in number, it will grow in expense and liability and it will contribute to the complete unravelling of our society through social anarchy, addictions, abuse and crime.

The simple way to address the social welfare dependency issue is to simply stop creating policy and legislation that in reality and when implemented upon society is the creation of emotionally and psychologically dysfunctional welfare dependants.

Assessment and Support

Before being able to address the psychological and emotional components that alter a persons functionality within their own lives, and the society they are part of, it is imperative that an assessment be carried out.

I feel that it is irresponsible to allow a person who has suffered trauma throughout their life to simply go through a process of opening up past wounds and expect them to address the issues that surround that trauma, all the while being expected to maintain a healthy home and supportive environment. Firstly, it is critical to ascertain their socio-economic situation by answering a few

26 questions.

3. Recognising, by asking, and understanding the belief system they have created in order to survive owing/ or due to what happened to them and respecting the value of that belief system regardless of whether it is agreeable or not. 4. Assessing the true level of functional support a person has, by evaluating their position regarding the feeling of security by the availability of finance, food, shelter, clothing, safety.

1: Before beginning the healing process, I feel the need to understand a persons personal belief structure is extremely important. This has been altered due to trauma, as the one they had before did not protect them. In many cases where the trauma has happened when they were a child their internal belief structure has been altered in its creation. Functional perceptional interpretations, functional emotional processing and problem solving are not present. I cannot stress enough the need to have an understanding of how a person processes emotions and what they hold onto to survive. Without this understanding you risk reinforcing associative destructive behavioural patterns resulting from the clients internal interpretations. You also put at risk resulting from the clients actions those that are dependent upon i.e. children/ partner as well as family relationship and employment etc.

I have personally witnessed families being torn apart after a mental health professional lacking this understanding did not ascertain their client feeding a dangerous psychological perceptional belief structure; they interpreted what the practitioner was advising them that they were sexually abused by their father as a child and subsequently accused their father of child sexual abuse, involved the courts, police friends etc. but the client had not actually been abused in the way they had perceived

27 and the family has never recovered and refuses any contact with the client, destroying what was a functional supportive family. This is one of many cases I have personally come across.

Traditional First Nations culture has a simple approach to creating this understanding and without confrontation, by helping guide a person towards a more constructive and positive internal belief structure and mental//emotional processing. The teaching of belief, family and community revolves around the natural environment we are all part of. This is not religion, it is simply learning how to become a human-being in the process of healing the trauma of your past.

2: The importance and the mechanisms of support go far beyond just having a friend that will make you a cup of tea, it goes to being there day or night in the process of healing and supporting through the initial opening of the wounds and at a time where a person is at most risk of self-harm and or feeding or creating an addiction.

The establishment of a support base is critical in times of extreme emotional distress and or psychological episode. The client in turn would learn to build trust and respect towards them and in return listen to their advice. To aid those that are willing to become a persons support base, the means need to be provided concerning support, reassurance, and information on the correct approach when dealing with an outburst or episode.

The clients home environment also needs to be understood, regarding how secure they feel within that, their safety, the provision of their means and the length of time for these provisions. They may not be able to attend any form of work due to their emotional and psychological state. Therefore, the availability to take time off work needs to be supported and recognised by

28 government departments, employers and medical institutions.

I have found many instances where these needs have not been met and the whole process of attempting to resolve or even create an understanding of the issues that surround a traumatic event are lost due to the person resisting any form of questioning their situation due to they feel they cannot risk what they interpret as the stability they have created to survive on the hope of change. Leading to reaffirming their dysfunctional emotional and psychological state and reinforcing their need to be in and remain in survival mode. Survival mode is the heightened mental state where hyper-awareness, hypersensitivity, extreme fight or flight and obsessional behaviour are common. In this state the human brain will not allow any change in feeling or behaviour due to priority and need to survive rather than feeling safe enough to take the risk of opening up and beginning to allow the memories of what has happened to flow in the right order. Allowing the memories to unfold.

A simple assessment process of this relates to a simple non-restrictive classification 4. High functioning The client has a stable relationship, support base and has steady employment with the ability to take time off. Has a stable home environment and feels safe in the area in which they live. 5. Medium functioning The client has either a stable relationship, support base or has stable employment and home environment. 6. Low functioning The client feels they have no real support base and either feels insecure with their employment or is on welfare and struggles to maintain a stable, safe home environment.

29

Where a clients needs are not met, such as a stable home and supportive environment, provisions need to be in place to create that before addressing the psychological and emotional trauma related issues and or behaviour. This can be achieved through a more community based approach, supported by realistic government funding and resources.

In the cases where illicit substance addiction, prescription addiction, alcohol addiction and/or abuse is present, the need for trained trauma related detox services as well as enabling the client to maintain a home environment i.e. mortgage payments, employment etc. (negotiation and legislative support enabling an agreement with banks/employers etc. Without this capability the client will remove themselves from any treatment program and the whole process fails.

*perceptional / perceptional awareness a subconscious thought development process resulting from an individuals perception and internal interpretation. i.e. A daughter subconsciously associating her mistrust of her father through feelings of betrayal to all men resulting in a mistrust and inherent resistance to male counsellors, male government representatives and workers etc. plus emotional mistrust of male partners and their views on their relationship and the raising of children. A son witnessing domestic violence perpetrated upon his mother subconsciously associating that women are weak and need to be dominated and/or controlled as well as fear of his potential to become a perpetrator resulting in emotional separation from and/or controlling women and female perspective on society, relationships and the raising of children.

30

The simple solution to all of the above is to treat all people with respect, compassion, understanding and above all else as a sacred human-being, with an approach to any necessary change in government legislation and policy with the due diligence of a true understanding of the implications on all concerned. Taking the rights and humanity away of one, to appease the needs of another is ethically and morally wrong and the results of this will only end in disaster. To see the results of the proposed and any future legislative changes one need only look at the traditional indigenous people of this country. Australian Aboriginals have suffered at the hands of policy, only to be or (making them feel) dehumanised by way of , their parental rights being removed by the taking of their children. This has left them broken as a people therefore, feeling despondent leading to, social issues such as addictions, violence and abuse which is at a level almost financially impossible to resolve, leaving the majority welfare dependant. They are a microcosm that you can observe to show how not to treat human-beings and the generational consequence when you do. In conclusion the trauma of one person is the trauma of us all. We all bear the burden to ensure that laws are written to protect the most vulnerable in our society, not exploit them. We have within our capacity the opportunity, now, to heal what is broken and stop the increasing cycles of trauma of our children, families, communities and society. We must be brave in this endeavour and face the damage of the past practices to ensure they are not repeated by future legalisation. The government has a duty of care to the citizens within society, especially the young and vulnerable. The citizenry has a duty to voice objections to unjust, unfair or unlawful revisionist legislation that strips any individual of their basic human rights.

31 It is the duty of the citizens to raise these objections to laws that will cause harm and it is the duty of the government to listen to these concerns and undertake due diligence prior to the implementation of any reforms to future legislation. The ramifications as outlined briefly in this submission require the committees attention and in good faith requires further open discussion with all stakeholders. The current and any future proposed reforms have the potential to cause a great deal of harm. It has been suggested that they may be constitutionally unsound. But beyond the political rhetoric are peoples lives at stake, Therefore, this submission is asking that the NSW legislators look at the impact these proposed changes will have before implementing them. Yours Respectfully Erik Spinney (Standing Bear N'Deh First Nations)