'Post-colonial stress' wins support from some psychologists

By ANGELA GREGORY

The malady "post-colonial traumatic stress disorder" has not yet made it into the medical books.

But not all psychology experts are rubbishing Associate Maori Affairs Minister Tariana Turia's controversial explanation of Maori violence.

Mrs Turia's analysis of the causes of Maori violence at a psychologists' conference in Hamilton raised the spectre of her race's "holocaust" type exposure to colonisation.

The chairman of the New Zealand Psychological Society, Dr Barry Parsonson, said Mrs Turia's speech was greeted with astonishment, even disappointment, from some psychologists present.

But Dr Parsonson said the range of reaction included support for Mrs Turia, in respect of where she was coming from.

"She was using metaphors as a challenge to psychologists to look not just at the individual, but also to step back and take in the broader picture of the circumstances they find themselves in."

Dr Parsonson, a clinical psychologist, admitted the "post-colonial traumatic stress disorder" was a new one on him and was not a recognised psychiatric condition.

"It's not something I've heard of before, and it's not listed in any American or European diagnostic manuals.

"One would have to be very cautious about creating a disorder."

But Dr Parsonson said the role of history in behaviour was worth examining, particularly in terms of the impact of a significant mass disruption of a culture and the longer term psychological impacts.

Dr Parsonson said it could be argued the effects of the suffering of hapu and iwi could be passed down generations.

"Colonisation is not a change that goes away. It could be said to put structures in place to maintain and increase that pace of change ... it has an ongoing effect."

There were Maori alive today who could remember the effect of their language being suppressed, and the social upheaval of urbanisation, he said.

"One shouldn't simply laugh and discount the possibility of long-term effects.

"Sometimes people in a society are too close to it to see the effects of history on its people."

Dr Parsonson said the danger was in settling on any one explanation, or worse an excuse, for Maori violence.

He did not believe Mrs Turia was necessarily falling into that trap.

Massey University Professor of Maori Studies Mason Durie said he was "sure" Mrs Turia was not taking a one-dimensional approach to the problem of Maori violence.

"I have worked with her and know she is aware of the many issues."

A trained psychiatrist, Professor Durie agreed the disorder Mrs Turia described was not a classified mental disorder.

But Professor Durie said it was a "very common descriptor" which contained a powerful message that historical factors influenced behaviour.

He said the term had been around for about a decade and was used in relation to the position of indigenous people in colonised countries.

It was a short-hand way of describing people who had lost their culture and standing in society, where their economic and social wellbeing had been subjected to a range of problems.

Professor Durie said intergenerational trauma was not uncommon, but was a background issue.

While he could understand that Mrs Turia's use of emotional language like "holocaust" grated against the New Zealand psyche, he did not think it an exaggeration.

"It is not a word I would use myself, but when you think the population of 200,000 Maori in 1800 was reduced to 42,000 by 1900 - that's pretty close to a holocaust."

Mrs Turia's parliamentary staff said yesterday that she was not available for comment for the rest of the week, and suggested other sources for media inquiries.

One of these, Maori psychologist Keri Lawson-Te Aho, said a syndrome, or cluster of behaviours, could arise in indigenous people as a result of colonisation.

A lot of work had been done in the area concerning American Indians in terms of their high rates of suicide and self harm, she said.

Keri Lawson-Te Aho said the long term effects of colonisation were not well researched in New Zealand, but Tariana Turia was courageous to raise it as "much deeper" explanations were needed.

"We are a product of our past, and it is useful to look at the root causes.

People can't be treated in a historical vacuum."

Keri Lawson Te-Aho said it was important to resolve the issues and move on.

Another health worker nominated by Mrs Turia's office, Irihapeti Ramsden, said people tended to get "horizontally violent" when they felt powerless.

The Victoria University nursing lecturer said Maori had to understand their past to heal.

"I have worked with Maori to explain their past ... it's amazing how much better they feel about themselves."

Irihapeti Ramsden said this process was not about blame, but understanding the past to take responsibility for the future.