40S
I
The stereotype found in the literature that teachers, neighbours, ;
1
people in authority are prejudiced and discriminate against Aborigines
wasnotheld by a large proportion of the respondents. The stereo-
type of Aboriginal people as passive, dependent, was not held by
this group who believed that fighting for themselves, ≡king an effort
themselves was a pre-requisite for help from others.
The surprising difference of views between Aborigines and non-
Aborigines was on the question of feeling security in seeing where
their future lay; 43.4 per cent of non-Aborigines agreed that they
couldn’t see what their future would bring. Only 26.4 per cent
of Aborigines agreed with this (p. 404).
Apart from this one area, the pattern of response was similar,
though with greater strength of view on the part of non-Aborigines.
The evidence suggests that there is not a striking difference
between Aborigines and non-Aborigines in the typification of actors
*
in the world around them, particularly actors in the educational
world.
The difference lies in a greater coherence of view on the part
of non-Aborigines.
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24.22 Autonomy∕lack of autonomy
(i) Individual autonomy
The feeling of autonomy in one’s life is held to be an important
*
element of identity. Talcott Parsons (1968) avers that the possibility
to the building of identity.
of making choices,
of being able to commit oneself is essential
Conversely, a lack of autonomy is defined as the perception
that life is happening to the individual rather than being lived
on his own initiative.