Shame: the ingenious quilt Unfortunately a negative transformation has since occurred:
Yeah, I mean they have, they have the critic, they have a lot of guilt, they suffer from all those things and of course their culture now is very shamebased because of the abuse, generations of abuse and it‘s now internalised; operating internally. [SI 4]
This conversation about culture widened eventually to consider a world of shifting lifestyle upon which modern technology was also impinging. Still talking about aboriginal culture, however, the participant spoke about the shame that aboriginal men feel when they are unemployed:
Participant: And that, it‘s interesting that a lot of violence comes up around unemployment; times of unemployment where men don‘t have a source of self-esteem or belonging and so they attack whatever is close. Interviewer: Yes, are we talking simply about the breadwinner notion? Participant: Er, is it more the breadwinner? It‘s actually having a place in the world. Interviewer: Hm, mm. Participant: It‘s much more than earning money. Interviewer: Oh yeah, yeah. Participant: It‘s about one‘s masculine identity I think. I think that‘s why the Aboriginal men have struggled so severely and not lived very long.
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