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Aborigines typify’Australians in general’positively. An
’Australian’ world of meaning has positive attributes. Aborigines
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in the study typified the Aboriginal self positively.
In sum, the Aborigines in the research population accepted for
other Aborigines most of the common stereotypes found in the
literature, giving major agreement to those characteristics
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associated with delinquency - drinking, often being in trouble
with police, often in debt, wasting money, not keeping jobs,
being quick-tempered and aggressive, picking fights with others.
In the stereotyping of the self, there is strong rejection of
all these negative images. One defines oneself not only in a positive
way, but by defining the not-I, in this case, Aborigines, in general.
In the tradition-oriented situation it is the white who is
the not-I and must be rejected. For urban Aborigines it is the fringe-
dwellers and the anomic groups that are the not-I, and are to be
rejected. ’Australians’ are not rejected. Aboriginality, as we
shall see later is not rejected. It is the negative attributes
of Aborigines that are rejected. It was hypothesized that the
Aboriginal people would have internalized a negative identity. With
reference to the population studied, this hypothesis was not supported,
Qn the contrary, Aborigines gave great support to positive stereo-
types of themselves and their families.
It was hypothesized that non-Aborigines would stereotype Aborigines
negatively. This hypothesis was supported.
The problem now becomes one of attempting to give meaning to
this situation, trying to see how it can be that the Aboriginal group
studied can, and in fact does, project a positive identity in the
face of negative views held of them by the dominant society.
It is projected that the explanation may be found in the positive
theorizing of reality definers, discussed in Chapter XIX, and the
interaction of Aboriginal people with this theorizing. The theorizing
of students will be examined in Chapter XXII, to ascertain whether or
not there is symmetry between typifications of Aborigines and theorizing
about their location in society.