Kant, la libertad, la razón y la igualdad

This section shows how the intergenerational transmission of community violence and trauma contributes to the cyclic nature of these neighbourhood problems which has deeply felt implications for Bininj people in Gunbalanya. First, the section explores how unresolved conflict and violence are significant problems in the community. The ongoing nature of conflict, aggression and violence which are used as strategies to manage internal and public tensions reinforce the normalisation of these problems in everyday life. Second, intergenerational transmission of social problems is attributable to excessive substance misuse and gambling, community-wide patterns of violence and peer-group learning. Third, this section shows how social stress, worry and trauma affects individuals as well as broader kin relationships. The normalisation of violence, intergenerational problems and trauma are underlying problems in this study which prevent other issues such as interpersonal harm from being addressed.

6.5.1

Normalisation of community violence

Individual expressions of anger, aggression and conflict are strong themes to arise from the findings in this study. Atkinson et al. (2010) indicate that the normalisation of violence, and the high prevalence of grief, stress, and substance misuse, are symptoms of underlying traumatic stress. Experiencing and witnessing violence as a child, including sexual assault, is a risk factor for offending and becoming a perpetrator of violence in adulthood (Atkinson, et al., 2010). In this study, conflict, aggression and fighting are problems simmering at the surface, ready to be ‘activated’ when mixed with harmful substances or stressful situations.

Participants show that collective expressions of violence, frustration and aggression are experienced in various ways. As explored earlier, jealousy and cheating and the associated conflicts and ‘fights’ over social media, and involving the broader family, were common family

violence issues talked about by participants.197 _{A non-Indigenous person explained that the}

normalisation of violence is one of the most important issues affecting the community:

On a daily basis, there’s always fighting, and it is the norm within a community like this, unfortunately. Whether it be through young boys fighting over daluk – girls – or, probably more often than not, is a couple – male or female. That’s the issue I think is one of the biggest, as it is the norm, and there is no intervention from anyone. [SP06]

Participant SP06 highlights how different expressions of gendered violence198 have become normalised in the community. By ‘normalised’ the participant refers to desensitisation of violence in public where ‘there is no intervention from anyone’ including the police. The inaction of the police in responding to family violence was also raised by numerous service providers and Bininj participants.199 Fighting and ‘talking badly’ were the most common expressions depicting conflicts in the public domain.

Family violence and payback are prominent issues where participants reported that ‘big trouble’ and ‘wars’ erupt from young people prowling at night, social media and sexual transgressions. Suspicions and blame arise over cheating and jealousy occurs irrespective of whether these suspicions are true or not. From my observations, certain couples were prone to jealousy which the husband sometimes sought to control his wife’s movements. Jealousy created barriers to these women’s workforce participation and limited opportunities for employment skills development. But again, these are actions I observed in the ‘public’ domain. I now draw upon some participant reports to show what can happen in the private domain:

These days the husband goes prowling and he finds a girlfriend. The wife finds out about girlfriend and the wife goes to hit girlfriend. But we don’t see them because they keep it a secret. These days we got jamon200 and it’s against the law. [Q23]

Participant Q23 depicted a scenario above where one member of a couple is cheating behind closed doors where the husband is ‘prowling’ for a new girlfriend. She described that ‘wife

197 _{Refer to section 5.4.4 for a detailed description and analysis of issues associated with interpersonal and family} violence.

198 _{Gendered violence in this case means women fighting women, men fighting men and the broader family over} issues such as jealousy, cheating and prowling. Disputes can start over bullying, harassment or jealousy over social media then evolve into family violence involving broader kin relationships unless it was resolved earlier. 199 _{The issue of police inaction to violent incidents in Gunbalanya is substantially covered in section 8.4.2.} 200 _{‘Jamon’ means police in Kunwinjku.}

finds out about girlfriend’ and ‘goes to hit girlfriend’ which clearly depicts how jealousy, cheating and payback can be perpetrated by both women and men. Furthermore, this scenario highlights how Bininj people are increasingly aware of how contemporary legislation is criminalising Aboriginal people for committing violence and this is pushing these practices further into the private domain.

This shows how Indigenous family violence occurs in a social and cultural context that contrasts considerably from violence against women in the Western context. Indigenous family violence must be understood as a holistic concept that encompasses broader patterns of physical, social, emotional and financial violence, intimidation and harassment within the kinship system (Blagg, et al., 2018; Burbank, 1994; R. Holder, et al., 2015; Memmott, et al., 2001; Olsen & Lovett, 2016). Similar incidents of family fighting were reported over cheating relating to social media. One participant commented:

Fighting with that Diva Chat then the trouble comes back to the family. Because of jealousy and cheating around young people, then it makes the elders get into an argument too. There’ll be big fight, a war with all the families together. The daluk201 _{goes out walking at night and}

looks for Bininj. But she’s already got a boyfriend. We encourage kids to do the right thing, not fighting. [Q37]

Participant Q37 reported how a single incident, such as cheating, can quickly turn into an intra-family ‘war’ with ‘all the families together’. This is another example of the complexities of family violence in Indigenous communities which can quickly involve the broader kinship network. Similarly, other participants highlighted that the community can be peaceful, but ‘trouble’ can quickly erupt because “trouble is buried from before” [Q18].

This participant explained that ‘trouble’ can simmer at the surface because it is buried in people’s social networks while it continues unresolved202_{. Participant CM08 developed this}

thread further:

Some people got problems from a long time ago, you know that this family has done something to that family a long time ago. And they just keep on going for a long time. And it kills people. But sometimes the

201 _{Kunwinjku word for ‘woman’ or ‘girl’.}

people look at these young boys and say: “oh, you think you’re very smart”. But they don’t talk to each other you know. They will do it in secret way. Then they will take his shirt or underpants and they will do something with it. The girl or boy gets sick then they will get cancer or something and die. [CM08]

Participant CM08 explained how families have unresolved issues that ‘are buried from long time ago’ because ‘they don’t talk to each other’ about the problem. This shows that when social cohesion breaks down, problems remain dormant and unresolved, this intra-family conflict can arise over another matter. The socially embedded practice where Bininj elders resolve problems internally, without outside intervention203, is a protective mechanism that is breaking down and this thereby allows problems to linger. Participant CM08 also suggested that people seek redress ‘in a secret way’ indicating that they use “black magic”204 _{to cause}

social harm or death.

Black magic is another type of violence occurring across the community. The practices of black magic or sorcery are often covered in mystery which provides a fruitful environment for people to attribute unexpected deaths to accusations of black magic. In addition, public accusations of casting black magic onto another person or object, as an act of revenge and violence, further instils the belief in magic among believers. In other circumstances, black magic can be used to explain an unexpected death, such as a young person who had no known pre-existing health conditions. Other scholars have explored how sorcery is used amongst Indigenous societies as a potential explanation for unannounced deaths and an expression of broader violence (Forsyth & Eves, 2015).

Seven participants mentioned that black magic is a problem when (1) a person does not respect or obey Bininj law, (2) in relation to payback, or (3) when cousins and family members teach black magic to others. These are examples where spiritual and cultural beliefs operate as distal factors in the neighbourhood and affect those who believe.205 These two participants identified that black magic is cast on those who do not respect Bininj law:

203 _{Further discussed in section 7.4.}

204 _{Black magic is the term used by Kunwinjku Aboriginal participants to refer to sorcery.}

205 _{Not everyone believed in the presence and existence of black magic and, when I asked three specific individuals} on separate occasions, these participants from one family strongly objected to accusations of black magic because they believed that it was nonsense.