Introduction
Indigenous Psychological Health in the Workplace is a complicated and multidimensional subject that addresses Native workers’ mental, emotional, and spiritual health. Indigenous people’s worldviews, values, and beliefs are shaped by their distinctive cultural identities, which may affect their psychological health and general well-being. This essay will thoroughly examine the literature on Indigenous psychological health in the workplace. I will look at colonialism, racism, discrimination, and intergenerational trauma as historical and modern causes of the psychological health inequalities Indigenous people face in the workplace. I will also examine how culturally sensitive treatments and approaches might support Indigenous workers’ psychological health and well-being. My final remarks will cover the consequences of this study for practice, policy, and future research.
People of Indigenous Descent in the Work Force
Indigenous workers everywhere are up against the same obstacles since the fast transformation of their economic bases has serious implications for their rights and well-being. The Indigenous people’s traditional ways of living are growing threatened (Tengö et al., 2021). Also, Native Americans confront significant and ongoing barriers to accessing decent work, including productive and freely chosen employment and social protection. Indigenous peoples’ mental health suffers due to the cumulative effects of resource scarcity (Parsons & Luke, 2021). Due to restricted social and physical constraints, people of indigenous origin have not once had the privilege of being occupied and active members of normal society, as the phrase goes. As a result, indigenous people may be subjected to prejudice from non-indigenous people who are unaware of the politics affecting their living standards. Mental health issues are exacerbated for Indigenous people due to the cumulative effects of discrimination.
Indigenous workers must balance concerns about inclusiveness and cultural safety at work with their mental health requirements in their communities. Among indigenous communities, the unemployment rate is disproportionately high. Despite the United States government’s reconciliation rhetoric, only about half of eligible Indigenous people are employed. Indigenous people’s career paths are impacted by the trauma they have endured historically in the workplace. Residential schools and the Revelation period of the 1960s impacted the sectors Indigenous people could work in and the educational options accessible to them (Falla-Wood, 2021). Finding a secure and satisfying job without a degree is challenging. Indigenous people are especially vulnerable to prejudice since they have historically been the targets of persecution. If there are intragenerational and intergenerational repercussions of residential schools and the 1960s revelation, some Indigenous people may be unable to find meaningful employment.
I noticed that today’s students have to deal with the legacy of racial prejudice in the classroom passed down through the generations. It highlights the need for institutions like schools and corporations to recognize, incorporate, and understand Indigenous practices and traditions. The legacy of residential schools increases the difficulties already faced by indigenous people in the work market (Chartrand, 2019). Employees of all backgrounds should be aware of colonialism’s historical and contemporary repercussions on Indigenous communities in the Americas. They contribute to Indigenous people’s economic disadvantage and reinforce low employment results.
Adding marginalization to an already vulnerable group increases the risk considerably. The Productivity Commission study includes housing, employment, and justice only to the extent they augment the health treatment offered to those with mental illness. While the draft Productivity Commission proposals touch on certain social factors, they fail to address the underlying concerns that may impact individuals’ and communities’ mental health and welfare. Loss of traditional social relationships (loneliness and social isolation), poverty, migratory experiences, and traumatic events all fall into this category. Substance abuse, domestic/family violence, gambling, and addictions are other issues that need greater study.
The State of Indigenous Peoples’ Mental Health
The federal government of the United States has made measures to aid Indigenous people by expanding their access to higher education and employment prospects. Training for new careers, help to find work, and even paid work are all part of these initiatives. Yet, it is not apparent if Indigenous individuals participating in these programs end up with stable, satisfying jobs. A major problem that Indigenous people experience is discrimination on the job. In addition, many Indigenous settlements are far from metropolitan centers and other amenities, making them difficult to visit. Imposing native people to vacate their homes for better financial possibilities is not a just method, particularly if many do not want to vacate.
Several Native people who leave their communities for work are sad because they miss their families, are discriminated against at work, and have no one to advise them on their culture. There is a higher increment rate in more indigenous people in the United States of America. By 2036, about 1.2 million native people will be able to live peacefully in America (Luyckx et al., 2021). In the United States of America, indigenous citizens are being more accepted in a workforce environment. Whether or if the workforce will change to accommodate Indigenous people for equal job opportunities is an open subject. Little is known about how Indigenous people in the United States of America can have access to equal job opportunities at this time. Discrimination against Indigenous People in the workplace may severely influence their mental health. It includes situations in which people are refused work prospects because of their race or cultural background.
The well-being of an individual relies on and is measured by socioeconomic status and other situations. Unemployment can also be caused by smoking, extreme alcohol use and drug addiction. These are current concerns in Native American neighborhoods in the United States. In addition to unequal access to work possibilities, indigenous people must contend with the aftereffects of past trauma, such as lateral violence, political conflicts within bands and communities, and a lack of education. Many Indigenous employees are pushed off-reserve in search of jobs, where they are exposed to a higher risk of discrimination, violence, and prejudice. There are several possible causes for such actions in the workplace (avoiding acknowledging cultural differences or being unable to purchase certain products). Together, these effects discriminate against Indigenous people, discourage them from entering the workforce, and harm their health.
An individual’s risk of homelessness, poverty and mental health is caused by lack of a job and not attending school. Indigenous employees find connecting emotionally, mentally and spiritually difficult with Indigenous inheritance (Carr et al., 2019). Indigenous people’s welfare is endangered when they lose touch with their Indigenous traditions on the job. The need to localize Indigenous practices and provide “cultural safety training” to non-Indigenous employees has been highlighted by studies to ensure. Indigenous people feel culturally “comfortable” in the workplace. Second, the research found a mentoring program for Native American workers in the United States. However, these findings offer useful information for employers seeking to train Indigenous workers for specific positions. They may overlook that some Indigenous people may not want to work for a company that does not respect Indigenous values or with coworkers who exhibit hostility toward Indigenous people and their ways of life.
These studies also only draw on general notions of cultural training for non-Indigenous employees, offering a colonialist interpretation of what it means to be “culturally safe” at work. Creating, developing, and implementing policies and programs that incorporate and give Indigenous people a fair opportunity to gain and keep employment requires a thorough understanding of the specific workplace situation. Indigenous peoples worldwide face barriers to securing decent work and adequate healthcare. Indigenous people are underrepresented in the workforce because many colonialism stereotypes continue. Another study highlighted the need to recognize Indigenous habits and provide training in social safety for non-Native employees to make Native people feel more at home in the workplace. Despite efforts to promote cultural safety in the workplace, many Indigenous employees still leave their jobs due to racism. The jokes or lack of humor directed against Indigenous workers might negatively impact a person’s mental health. It may become a self-satisfying prediction to a Native worker. Indigenous workers’ mental health is affected by the harsh views and actions of others.
Several Indigenous communities can keep their workforces strong despite political difficulties and erratic funding. The mental health of Indigenous employed people is harmfully impacted since they are more likely to be exposed to hostile behavior at work. While exposed to unfriendly behavior in the working environment, the mental health of the employed Indigenous people will be harmfully impacted, which can cause serious damage to their lives. Sexual harassment reports at the workplace are more on Indigenous women than non-Indigenous women. There is a bigger number of young, new, vulnerable employees within the Indigenous community, representing one more generation of qualified employees who may experience prejudice and be barred from employment merely because they are Native. Indigenous people in America have been found to benefit greatly from a strong sense of cultural identification. Indigenous peoples’ mental health depends on having ties to their land, neighbors, and families. There is a strong overlap between the workplace and the mental health requirements of the Indigenous community.
Mental Health in the Indigenous Workforce
Native peoples’ suicide rates are at least twice as high as those of their non-Native counterparts, and it is known that they are less likely to seek out treatment for mental health (Dawson et al., 2021). Those of Indigenous descent who have a sense of belonging in the job and a handle on stress according to their cultural norms and the medicine wheel model is expected to have better health. The medicine wheel highlights four main areas: First and foremost, “truth” to appreciate diversity and communicate the truth constructively; Second, exhibiting courage by standing up for those in need; Thirdly, “respect” by treating them as if I would like to be also treated and recognize the validity of others’ perspectives and behave accordingly. Fourthly, trust that one’s opinion will be respected and heard. As an “inclusive health and safety paradigm founded on cultural ideas and values,” this Indigenous framework broadly views health and safety.
Indigenous Americans’ mental health and employment are seldom studied. Addiction’s consequences on Indigenous health are well-documented. Workplace mental health and addiction difficulties intersect with these basic subjects. Indigenous people’s poor mental health on the job might result from several factors (Middleton et al., 2020). Firstly, Indigenous employees have been “laterally aggressive” due to prior trauma, distancing them from their communities. Second, Indigenous communities may lack workplace mental health support. Lastly, if non-Indigenous workers harass, abuse, discriminate, and treat Indigenous workers disrespectfully, Indigenous workers may feel alienated from the workplace.
It is up to individual employers whether they want to report incidents of lateral aggression. If workplace difficulties from the community creep in, some Indigenous people could feel cut off from their job and identities (regardless of whether the employment location is on or off reserve). When Indigenous workers lose touch with their culture due to lateral violence at work, their physical and mental health are compromised. An Indigenous worker can want to speak to someone about their mental health without explaining why. Utilizing a theoretical framework that is based, five shared circles were conducted with the Nokiiwin Tribe Council’s community leaders to discuss how to make the workplace more accepting of those with mental health challenges (O’Loughlin et al., 2021). Also, living in a rural place roughly restricts access to culturally competent mental health providers. Seasonal roadways may not exist in certain Indigenous villages or regions where people labor because of their isolation.
Without a social network, gaining access to fair resources is more challenging. Indigenous employees rely heavily on a sense of social safety in the workplace. Positive mental health is more likely to occur among Native employees when they have a sense of belonging to their culture and believe their employer and coworkers value it. Stress at work is a real possibility if their mental health is declining. Negative mental health on the job can be better controlled if the Indigenous worker has friends and family at work or in their community. Employees’ psychological welfare is improved when cultural safety training is required for all staff.
Gaps and Constraints in The Employment of Indigenous People
Assessments must be rethought from the ground up to ensure the efficient distribution of programs and services to the Native people. It will be crucial to generate competence in the systems to include Native knowledge in appraising thinking if individuals are to create an appropriate culture of assessment for Indigenous initiatives. It includes Indigenous people in the evaluation’s decision-making process and its planning, design, execution, and reporting. Individual knowledge of the impact of employment and associated treatments on Native mental health and suicide stoppage is insufficient, highlighting the necessity for a new planned approach to Native evaluations. As a result of colonial practices and their subsequent infusion into First Nations peoples’ socioeconomic and health issues, the hypothetical frameworks are, at best, inadequate and cannot reflect the complexities of Indigenous peoples’ daily lives.
Not including the socioeconomic determining factor of health in the recent efficient reviews is a prime example of the inadequacies in framing the concerns. The fundamental problem is that no overarching theory explains why and how Indigenous peoples’ mental health suffers due to unemployment and economic hardship. Racialized Indigenous workers feel more psychologically unsafe in Canada (Wilson, 2022). This scheme’s drawback is that it oversimplifies the relationship between work and economic suffering. Due to the intrinsic complexity and intergenerational nature of the underlying causes, the empirical analysis is less persuasive than it should regard work and mental health. Without historical data on the relevant elements, it is hard to determine if a person’s mental health declines due to job loss or labor market disadvantage due to colonization.
Poor mental health outcomes are probably caused by the same variables that cause financial hardship in Native communities. Without a more robust historical study on financial distress and mental health, people cannot know to what degree focusing just on the job and financial stress might enhance the mental health of Indigenous people. The statistical exercise will be contested even if historical data are captured properly due to uncertainty or ambiguity about important theoretical frameworks. Empirical research will continue offering limited insights due to uncertainty about the correct theory, insufficient data, and difficulties in constructing statistical models meaningfully analyzing Indigenous people’s lived experiences.
Suggestions For Future Studies on Indigenous People
Notwithstanding the importance of Work to Indigenous peoples’ mental health, this study only briefly discusses a handful of programs that address this issue. Mental health employment treatments must be supported by research and evaluated in practice. A global epidemic has broken out, and it may have lasting monetary effects (Bartle et al., 2021). It highlights the need to examine how prolonged economic downturns affect Indigenous peoples’ participation in the labor market and mental health. The same colonial legacies, cultural insecurity, unconscious prejudice, and discrimination contributing to economic hardship in Indigenous communities also likely contribute to poor mental health outcomes. Gathering historical data on financial hardship and mental health could provide light on the economic issues behind poor mental health in Native communities. The elements that promote mental health in non-Indigenous workplaces and those that make a workplace welcoming to Indigenous people need more investigation.
It is important to track how often mental health problems are among employees in socially controlled environments and outside so that projections may be made based on past norms (Balachandar et al., 2020). All studies in this area, but notably those focusing on potentially traumatic, culturally hazardous workplaces, should take trauma into account. Adequate working circumstances, including control over the working environment, job security, and a lack of prejudice, are required for employment. A locational disadvantage and other emotional and socioeconomic issues may put the mental health of rural and frontier Americans at a higher risk. Indigenous people are mostly exposed to the negative psychological effects of colonization, Native exclusion from financial markets, racism, and intergenerational trauma. It is crucial to determine whether mental health concerns should supersede career goals. Indigenous people face many Work and health challenges in Canada (Durand-Moreau et al., 2022). It is not always apparent what constitutes a good job, even though there is some evidence that Work quality influences the effect of employment on mental health.
Although casual labor is less stable than permanent employment, its flexibility may be highly prized by Indigenous people since it allows them to pursue other goals. The inclusion of Indigenous academics and the Indigenous community is crucial to the success of this study in defining what defines good work qualitatively and identifying the conditions under which outstanding professions contribute to enhanced mental health. Every study that includes Indigenous community members or uses Indigenous participants needs to address the issue of data sovereignty. Indigenous communities and participants should be informed of plans to keep or use data for purposes other than the research as part of the submissions and moral process.
Using qualitative methodologies enables a more in-depth knowledge of Indigenous peoples’ viewpoints on workplace topics, particularly the mental health of Indigenous workers and their experiences with emotions of exclusion or inclusion at work (Murrupâstewart et al., 2019). At the sharing circles, people spoke about ways to improve mental health in the workplace using technology. The primary goal when these issues occurred was to confirm that the perspectives of Indigenous people were acknowledged and that the unified voice was well thought out. By maximizing Native employment in the mental health and Native communal sectors, we can guarantee the correct uptake of effective programs and enhance service delivery. It can also be an area in which Indigenous employment might be optimized. In addition, it is of even greater significance to make certain that workplaces that supply mental health services are culturally safe for both the workers who occupy such workplaces and the services that those workers deliver.
Conclusion
It is very important for an employer to safeguard and protect the mental health elevation and workplace inclusion that negatively affects Indigenous people in the working environment. The global data is unambiguous: investing in active labor market initiatives helps the job market and decreases suicide rates. As Indigenous people confront a structural disadvantage in the labor market, competent macroeconomic management is likely the best short-term choice if policymakers wish to prevent prolonged economic hardship for Indigenous people. Unconscious prejudice, blatant discrimination, and the refusal to identify cultural hurdles to inclusion ultimately make even the best policy intentions ineffective, leaving people excluded from dominant social networking sites and financial and political institutions. Native People should be included at all stages of the research and assessment process, from generating questions to implementing solutions.
It is the only way to overcome the long-standing institutional barriers to full social involvement for Indigenous People. For Indigenous peoples to enhance their mental health through increased job opportunities, relying entirely on market-based solutions would be a mistake. While employment in positions offering assistance to Native communities is probably particularly important, the communal sector is not protected from the consequences of unconscious prejudice towards Native People. Mental health services are more likely to succeed when provided by Indigenous groups and individuals. There should be thought given to broader work conceptions promoting meaningful participation in an Indigenous communal setting. Indigenous rangers, for instance, perform ecological services to the nation that have monetary value (such as fire management), and in the process, they also strengthen the bonds between Indigenous people and their homeland and culture.
An expanded definition of “meaningful employment” that helps emotionally and spiritually disconnected people reconnect with their communities is related to better mental health. All Americans should benefit from remembering this lesson, but Native People would appreciate it especially. I would like to cooperate and work with people who care and understand Indigenous people, especially regarding their mental health status. A new indigenous leadership paradigm is outlined in the Declaration, and it serves as a sobering reminder of the need for state-supported development of indigenous mental health leaders.
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