ABSTRACT

This volume traces the complex reasons behind the disturbing discrepancy between the health and well-being of children in mainstream Australia and those in remote Indigenous communities. Invaluably informed by Boulton’s close working knowledge of Aboriginal communities, the book addresses growth faltering as a crisis of Aboriginal parenting and a continued problem for the Australian nation. The high rate and root causes of ill-health amongst Aboriginal children are explored through a unique synthesis of historical, anthropological, biological and medical analyses. Through this fresh approach, which includes the insights of specialists from a range of disciplines, Aboriginal Children, History and Health provides a thoughtful and innovative framework for considering Indigenous health.

chapter 1|16 pages

Introduction

part 1|60 pages

The child in the human story

chapter 3|11 pages

Childhood in deep human history

The evolutionary origins of human childhood

part 3|56 pages

Political, ecological and social disruptions to the prerequisites of parenting

chapter 7|18 pages

Disrupting demography

Population collapse and rebound

chapter 8|14 pages

Coolibah's story

Structural violence in the twentieth century 1

part 4|30 pages

Disorders of child growth and development

part 5|31 pages

Conclusion

chapter 12|21 pages

Growing up our way

Beyond social determinants in the aetiology of growth faltering

chapter 13|9 pages

Reflections