Globalization of Human Services for Indigenous Youth in the Northern Territory, Australia

The primary backdrop for any discussion of Indigenous human services, and the needs that create them, is the “global community” in which we all now live (Marsella, 1998). That community is increasingly characterized by at least three major pressures operating on those services and the clients who use them (Hermans & Kempen, 1998). “Globalization” can be broadly defined as any movement towards global norms, for example in consumer services (e.g., fast food), commercial services (e.g., credit facilities), and educational services (e.g., instruction in English). “Localization” is often a reactance to globalization, as local groups seek to reassert their traditional norms, for example by reinstating traditional languages in their schools (Bolitho, Carr, & O'Reilly, 2000). “Glocalization” is the normative hybrid that results from any interaction of globalization and localization (Robertson, 1995). For example, health service programs can be a pluralistic meld of Western and traditional practices, like medical services for Aboriginal clients that are staffed and run mainly by Aboriginal people (Rowse, 1993).