Youth Studies Australia vol.14 no.4
December 1995

A nation working towards reconciliation
Youth Studies Australia, v.14 n.4 pp.13-16.
This article was contributed by Secretariat of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation, and contains an overview of action between 1991 and 1994 regarding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth and the reconcilation process.

Towards improved understandings of Aboriginal young people: Formation of personal and cultural identities, by Howard Groom
Youth Studies Australia, v.14 n.4 pp.17-21.
A catalogue of negative imagery surrounds Aboriginal young people, which has a significant influence on the formation of their personal and cultural identities. This paper examines Aboriginal identity formation in the light of a constructivist theory of identity, with particular regard to the overlapping worlds of family, peers, school, the Aboriginal community, and the wider community.

"Getting shown a thing or two": The adoption of Nyungar cultural forms by youth workers, by Dave Palmer
Youth Studies Australia, v.14 n.4 pp.22-28.
Aboriginal youth are frequently considered "casualties of change" suffering from a loss of culture and identity. Dave Palmer opposes this view, pointing out that although cultural conflict exists, cultural impact of a positive nature extends both ways between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples. An ethnographic project conducted in Perth and involving non-Aboriginal youth workers and Nyungar youth, highlights the issues involved and challenges the stereotype of Aboriginal youth as powerless victims.

Cutting a better deal for Torres Strait Islanders: Language learning and education, by Martin N. Nakata
Youth Studies Australia, v.14 n.4 pp.29-34.
Martin N. Nakata reviews the issues pertaining to Torres Strait Islander education, raising significant questions concerning a Western curriculum, language learning and bilingualism, and the role of Islander experiences in the development of suitable educational needs.

Worawa - More than a school: Aboriginal culture and academic goals are integrated in this unique school.
Youth Studies Australia, 1995, v.14 n.4 pp.35-37.
A visionary school in Victoria offers students an opportunity to live and learn Aboriginal culture and at the same time achieve their academic goals.

Discretionary decisions in juvenile justice and the criminalisation of indigenous young people: A NSW study, by Chris Cunneen & Garth Luke
Youth Studies Australia, v.14 n.4 pp.38-46.
This article provides a summary of an analysis of the treatment of Aboriginal children at various stages of the criminal justice system in NSW during the 12 month period of 1990 (Luke & Cunneen 1995). The aim of the report was to consider the extent that discretionary decision-making in the juvenile justice system affected Aboriginal young people and caused their over-representation in the official figures, particularly at the level of incarceration.

'Different coloured skin': The experiences of Aboriginal young people in the juvenile justice system, by Barbara Baikie Howard
Youth Studies Australia, v.14 n.4 pp.47-52.
A New South Wales study investigates the effects of the juvenile justice system on the experiences and perceptions of Aboriginal young offenders.

National Youth Alcohol Media Campaign, by Justin Noel
Youth Studies Australia, v.14 n.4 pp.53-56.
A description of the development of effective and appropriate media campaigns for the indigenous youth of Australia by directly involving them in the process.