“I Didn't Get to Say Good‐Bye… Didn't Get to Pet My Dogs or Nothing”: Bioecological Theory and the Indian Residential School Experience in Canada

Abstract

Abstract For more than 100 years, Canada systematically attempted to assimilate Indigenous families, in part by separating children from their families and forcing them to attend residential schools. Non‐Indigenous Canadians are just now learning about the history of Canada's residential schools. Social scientists in Canada and elsewhere, including the United States (residential or boarding schools were not unique to Canada), are studying the impact of residential schools on adult survivors and their children, in particular by focusing on the intergenerational transmission of historical trauma. I propose a contextual model for family scholars to use in studying the long‐term and intergenerational effects of the residential schools: Urie Bronfenbrenner's bioecological theory with its emphasis on process–person–context–time. Although comprehensive contextual theories run the risk of limited precision, I conclude that Bronfenbrenner's theory does justice to a broad understanding of the residential schools and their intergenerational legacy, with important implications for future research.

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