Reclaiming Stolen Identities: Resilience and Social Justice in Mid-Life

Abstract

SUMMARY This report discusses the work with a group of former British child migrant women as they took steps towards unravelling the effects of traumatic childhood experiences which still exerted unwanted influences on mid-life years. The Loss and Grief Centre in Adelaide South Australia (a partnership between Anglicare South Australia and Flinders University) sponsored this group and shared their search for meaning in the devastating act of being shipped to Australia as unaccompanied British minors who were robbed in the process of identifying background information. Now in their 50s the women had survived experiences of dislocation, loss, trauma, and deception regarding their true identity perpetuated by governments and the church-based receiving institution. In their resilience they reunited to try to collectively make sense of their past. Interpersonal and group social work interventions brought forth some of the deeply buried anguish and trauma that had remained unnamed for years but seemed to penetrate only superficial layers of emotions. Gradually through collective activities the social injustices were named in a more public formal context and the link between grief, trauma, and social justice became more apparent. Even after 40 years the trauma could not be resolved nor the grief fully expressed without connecting the intensity of reactions to the lack of acknowledgement and recognition of the injustice and inhumanity they had received as children. Despite various inquiries and documentation of the historical events a more personal connection between themselves as child victims and adult resilient survivors needed to emerge and this defined the social work helping role.