title: The psychological repercussions of the sociocultural oppression of Alaska Native peoples.
abstract: Issues of the mental health of arctic and subarctic Alaska Natives are explored. Their sociopolitical history is described to familiarize psychologists with the special circumstances of several groups of peoples in Alaska that have been ignored in psychological literature. This history demonstrates how intervention by European Americans in Alaska has prompted a self-alienation of Native peoples that has contributed to exorbitant suicide rates, increasing levels of addiction, high rates of interpersonal violence, and high teenage pregnancy. These developments are contrasted with traditional lifestyles. Recommendations are made about the role of psychology in the facilitation of the recovery process of Alaska Native peoples.
authors.affiliation: Salvation Army Clitheroe Center, Anchorage, Alaska.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sullivan
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Brems
mesh_terms: D000069:Acculturation; D000413:Alaska / Q000453:epidemiology; D000850:Anomie; D018595:Colonialism / Q000266:history*; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D005260:Female; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D004930:Inuit / Q000266:history* / Q000523:psychology; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000208:ethnology / Q000266:history*; D011247:Pregnancy; D008921:Religious Missions / Q000266:history / Q000523:psychology; D012918:Social Alienation / Q000523:psychology*; D012940:Social Problems / Q000266:history; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000208:ethnology / Q000266:history; D014481:United States