Benelong's Haven : recovery from alcohol and drug use within an Aboriginal Australian residential treatment centre / Richard Dean Chenhall.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Chenhall, Richard, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Benelong's Haven.

Aboriginal Australians--Alcohol use.

Aboriginal Australians.

Aboriginal Australians--Drug use.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (280 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Carlton, Victoria : Melbourne University Press, 2007.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Benelong's Haven was the first residential alcohol and drug treatment program controlled and operated by an Aboriginal Australian. It was established by Val Bryant in 1974 in the Sydney suburb of Marrickville, before moving to the small township of Kinchela Creek on the mid-north coast of New South Wales three years later. The centre is one example of the different approaches Aboriginal people have developed to deal with the problem of drug and alcohol abuse in their communities, where people who have experienced problems with alcohol and drug use can leave their existing environment and come to a different place. Anthropologist Richard Chenhall first visited Benelong's Haven for two weeks in late 1997. At the invitation of Val Bryant he returned later for an extended period of fieldwork, observing and participating in the centre's activities and getting to know staff and residents. There have been few studies that reflect Aboriginal social life in larger cities or in institutional settings. Benelong's Haven represents an attempt to examine, at the ethnographic level, the different ways in which individuals are shaped by, and interact within, the larger structures and social institutions that surround them. More specifically it documents an instance of Australian Aboriginal people trying to achieve change in their lives.

Contents:

Cover

Title

Copyright

Contents

Illustrations

Acknowledgements

Introduction

1 A History of Benelong's Haven

2 The 'New Aboriginal Way': Drinking and Drugging in Aboriginal Society

3 Aboriginal Substance Misuse and Violence

4 Arrival at Benelong's Haven

5 Alcoholics Anonymous Meetings: Learning to 'Share'

6 'Psych Groups': The Role of Group Work

7 The 'Shake Ups': Discipline and Mutual Support at Benelong's Haven

8 Aboriginal Spirituality and Culture in Treatment

9 Departures and Returns at Benelong's Haven

10 The Question of Transformational Identity

11 Evaluating Alcohol and Drug Rehabilitation Services: The Importance of Understanding Context

Appendices:

1 Benelong's Haven Daily Routine 1977

2 Benelong's Haven Menu

3 Benelong's Haven Rules

4 Alcoholics Anonymous

5 The Carnie and the Frog

Glossary of Terms

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780522853490

0522853498

OCLC:

1499721725