Detained asylum seekers, health care, and questions of human(e)ness
Abstract This paper contains some personal observations of life inside Woomera Detention Centre and certain aspects of the detained asylum seeker experience. This is from my own reference point as a psychiatric nurse who in 2002 undertook a six‐week contract at Woomera, and from my subsequent sociol...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2003-08-01
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| Series: | Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-842X.2003.tb00413.x |
| _version_ | 1797713977671680000 |
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| author | Glenda Koutroulis |
| author_facet | Glenda Koutroulis |
| author_sort | Glenda Koutroulis |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract This paper contains some personal observations of life inside Woomera Detention Centre and certain aspects of the detained asylum seeker experience. This is from my own reference point as a psychiatric nurse who in 2002 undertook a six‐week contract at Woomera, and from my subsequent sociological reflections on this experience. I draw attention to the disintegrative effect of detention on the individual and the bleakness of everyday life symbolically expressed in for ms of self‐harm. Then, through the example of medication administration, I show the vulnerability of those in detention to bureaucratic procedures that become micropolitical sites, providing the machinery for dehumanising acts. I conclude by calling for sociologists, health care workers, and the public health community in general to take a more active political stance against a Government and its policies that actively erode spirit, the body and, for some, even life. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T07:45:14Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ba76e5e0edc743ad999d85e2324a5396 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1326-0200 1753-6405 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T07:45:14Z |
| publishDate | 2003-08-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-ba76e5e0edc743ad999d85e2324a53962023-09-02T21:04:12ZengElsevierAustralian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health1326-02001753-64052003-08-0127438138410.1111/j.1467-842X.2003.tb00413.xDetained asylum seekers, health care, and questions of human(e)nessGlenda Koutroulis0Writer and researcher, Melbourne, VictoriaAbstract This paper contains some personal observations of life inside Woomera Detention Centre and certain aspects of the detained asylum seeker experience. This is from my own reference point as a psychiatric nurse who in 2002 undertook a six‐week contract at Woomera, and from my subsequent sociological reflections on this experience. I draw attention to the disintegrative effect of detention on the individual and the bleakness of everyday life symbolically expressed in for ms of self‐harm. Then, through the example of medication administration, I show the vulnerability of those in detention to bureaucratic procedures that become micropolitical sites, providing the machinery for dehumanising acts. I conclude by calling for sociologists, health care workers, and the public health community in general to take a more active political stance against a Government and its policies that actively erode spirit, the body and, for some, even life.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-842X.2003.tb00413.x |
| spellingShingle | Glenda Koutroulis Detained asylum seekers, health care, and questions of human(e)ness Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health |
| title | Detained asylum seekers, health care, and questions of human(e)ness |
| title_full | Detained asylum seekers, health care, and questions of human(e)ness |
| title_fullStr | Detained asylum seekers, health care, and questions of human(e)ness |
| title_full_unstemmed | Detained asylum seekers, health care, and questions of human(e)ness |
| title_short | Detained asylum seekers, health care, and questions of human(e)ness |
| title_sort | detained asylum seekers health care and questions of human e ness |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-842X.2003.tb00413.x |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT glendakoutroulis detainedasylumseekershealthcareandquestionsofhumaneness |