Intergenerational Trauma: The Relationship Between Residential Schools and the Child Welfare System Among Young People Who Use Drugs in Vancouver, Canada

doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2019.01.022

Journal of Adolescent Health

Volume 65, Issue 2, August 2019, Pages 248-254

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2019.01.022 Get rights and content

Abstract

Purpose

This study investigated the relationship between familial residential school system (RSS) exposure and personal child welfare system (CWS) involvement among young people who use drugs (PWUD).

Methods

Data were obtained from two linked cohorts of PWUD in Vancouver, Canada, and restricted to Indigenous participants. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the relationship between three categories of familial RSS exposure (none, grandparent, and parent) and CWS involvement. A secondary analysis assessed the likelihood of CWS involvement between non-Indigenous and Indigenous PWUD with no familial RSS exposure.

Results

Between December 2011 and May 2016, 675 PWUD (aged <35 years) were included in this study, 40% identified as Indigenous. In multivariable analyses, compared with Indigenous participants with no RSS exposure (reference), those with a grandparent in the RSS had a higher likelihood of having been in CWS (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.34, 95% confidence interval [CI]: .67–2.71), as did those with a parent exposed to RSS (AOR = 2.03, 95% CI: 1.03–3.99). In secondary analysis, the odds of CWS involvement was not significantly different between non-Indigenous and Indigenous PWUD with no familial RSS exposure (AOR = .63, 95% CI: .38–1.06).

Conclusions

We observed a dose–response–type trend between familial RSS exposure and personal CWS involvement and a nonsignificant difference in the likelihood of CWS involvement between Indigenous and non-Indigenous PWUD when controlling for RSS exposure. These data demonstrate the intergenerational impact of the RSS on the overrepresentation of Indigenous youth in the CWS. Findings have critical implications for public policy and practice including reconciliation efforts with Indigenous Peoples.

Section snippets

Methods

Data for this study were collected between December 1, 2011, and May 31, 2016, from two prospective cohorts of PWUD (i.e., the At-Risk Youth Study [ARYS] and the Vancouver Injection Drug Users Study [VIDUS]), with harmonized procedures for recruitment, follow-up, and data collection in Vancouver, Canada. Study rationale and procedures for ARYS and VIDUS have been described elsewhere in detail [28], [29]. In brief, to be eligible, participants must reside in the greater Vancouver region, have

Results

Over our study period, 675 PWUD (age <35 years) were enrolled in VIDUS and ARYS and eligible for these analyses. Among this sample, 259 (38.4%) were female, and the median age at baseline was 23.3 (Interquartile range [IQR]: 21.1–27.4) years. Among the 267 (39.6%) participants who identified as being of Indigenous ancestry, 179 (67.0%) were First Nations, 29 (10.7%) were Métis, and 9 (3.4%) identified as Aboriginal (no participants identified as Inuit). Among Indigenous participants, 90 (18.1%)

Discussion

We observed a dose–response–type trend between familial residential school exposure and having been personally involved with the CWS among younger Indigenous PWUD. Participants who had either a parent (or grandparent and parent) that attended a residential school were found to have more than two times the odds of having been in government care. Those with a grandparent (but no parent) that attended a residential school also had increased odds of being in care; however, this association did not

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the study participants for their contribution to the research, as well as current and past researchers and staff. The authors would specifically like to thank Carly Ho, Jennifer Matthews, Peter Vann, Steve Kain, and Marina Abramishvili for their research and administrative assistance. The authors respectfully acknowledge that this study was undertaken on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkwəỷəm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səľílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh)

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: Conflicts of interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

: Disclaimer: Funding sources had no further role in the study design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the article for publication.

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Original articleIntergenerational Trauma: The Relationship Between Residential Schools and the Child Welfare System Among Young People Who Use Drugs in Vancouver, Canada

Abstract

Purpose

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Section snippets

Methods

Results

Discussion

Acknowledgments

Child Abuse Negl

Child Abuse Negl

Soc Sci Med

Addict Behav

Child Abuse Negl

Healing the past is possible through dialogue, B.C. Chief says

Honouring the truth, reconciling for the future: Summary of the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada

The American Indian Holocaust: Healing historical unresolved grief

Am Indian Alsk Native Ment Health Res

A national crime: The Canadian government and the residential school system, 1879 to 1986

Historical trauma in American Indian/native Alaska communities: A multilevel framework for exploring impacts on individuals, families, and communities

J Interpers Violence

Volume 1: Looking forward, looking back

A Victorian missionary and Canadian Indian policy: Cultural synthesis vs cultural replacement

Pathways to the overrepresentation of aboriginal children in Canada's child welfare system

Soc Serv Rev

Disrupting the continuities among residential schools, the Sixties Scoop, and child welfare: An analysis of colonial and neocolonial discourses

Int Indig Policy J

The structure of Aboriginal child welfare in Canada

Int Indig Policy J

Community-based child welfare for aboriginal children: Supporting resilience through structural change

Soc Pol J N Z

Children in care

The intergenerational effects of Indian residential schools: Implications for the concept of historical trauma

Transcult Psychiatry

Historical trauma among Indigenous Peoples of the Americas: Concepts, research, and clinical considerations

J Psychoactive Drugs

Original article
Intergenerational Trauma: The Relationship Between Residential Schools and the Child Welfare System Among Young People Who Use Drugs in Vancouver, Canada