The resilience pillar is a fundamental component of the Child and Youth Care field. Resilience reflects a set of integrated principles designed to support Child and Youth Workers (CYWs) in their participation with children and youth. For decades, health professionals and researchers have always wondered how some children and adolescents are able to positively adapt and recover from significant threats and adverse conditions. Resilience is a multidimensional construct reviewed from a range of disciplinary perspectives. Ungar et al. (2009) defines resilience as “the recognition that an individual can achieve positive developmental outcomes despite exposure to risks deleterious enough to challenge adaptive pathways”. In other words, to be resilient …show more content…
Part of their job includes interacting therapeutically with children and youth as agents of change within the context of their everyday life situations. Many CYWs work front-line with children and youth who experience a far greater exposure to risk factors as well, systemic and societal barriers, in their most critical settings. Some of these include: violence, abuse, poverty, stress, trauma, deprivation and oppression (Lee et al., 2009). They are blocked from opportunities to self-develop and are socially excluded from participating in the community. As part of their work, CYWs help to build resiliency in children and youth in order to assist them in addressing the complexities within their environment. Focusing on children’s strengths as a starting point to building resiliency allows children and youth to move forward and navigate independently as they transition into adulthood. Through the promotion of a strength-based approach and holistic framework, CYWs generate an understanding of protective factors that contribute to nurturing a healthy development among children in order to help them function better and become more …show more content…
Resilience is used to prevent illness and help children and youth integrate back into society. In health care institutions, CYWs work to help families access mental health practitioners, lower the stigma of illness, and coordinate mental health services (Ungar et al., 2011). Part of their day-to-day work involves advocating mental health promotion strategies that include: nurturing individuals and families in the communities they live in, helping them build their strengths, provide opportunities, creating safe spaces for them and support each to become resilient (Barankin,
...ence of these children and their remarkable ability to positively adapt in the face of adversity, and although there are a number of unanswered questions in connection to the biological, cognitive, and social processes that are experienced throughout childhood, it is encouraging to know that with further study, this resiliency might be encouraged in the daycare setting. (Degnan & Fox, 2007)
Resilience and hardiness has long been a topic of research and discussion within different paradigms and fields of study, for example, in military psychology, psychiatry, health statistics and measurement, medical anthropology, education, medicine and organizational settings. Resilience means the skills, abilities, acquaintance, and insight that accumulate over time as people struggle to conquer adversity and meet challenges. It is an ongoing and developing fund of energy and skill that can be used in current struggles (Saleebey, 1996; Liebenberg, 2005).Most commonly, the term resilience has come to mean an individual's ability to overcome adversity and continue his or her normal development.
...gs and needs, and looking of other ways to strengthen resilience such as meditating (American Psychological Association, 2013).
Resilience is essentially the ability to successfully adapt to environmental stressors by maintaining psychological well-being in the face of adverse circumstances. The concept of resiliency has only recently begun to be a topic for research theory related to juveniles. Most theory research has been centered on why juveniles commit crime, in effect identifying risk factors to show who is likely to participate in delinquent behaviors and what are the factors driving this behavior are.
The Circle of Courage identifies four universal needs of all children: belonging, mastery, independence, and generosity. When these needs are met, children grow and thrive. But when these growth needs are frustrated, multiple problems follow. Circle of Courage model is for creating environments in which all children can thrive. It also defines problems of youth in terms of strengths and developmental needs. These principles are grounded in resilience science and positive psychology. The Circle of Courage provides a unifying theme to various strength-based interventions (Brendtro, Brokenleg, & Bockern, 2005:1).
Richardson, G. E. (2002). The Metatheory of Resilience and Resiliency. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 58(3), 307-321. doi:10.1002/jclp.10020
...r lives were like. They found that 86% of the resilient children seemed to doing well as adults and compared with non-vulnerable children had a higher rate of reporting to be happy. However, they did record high amount of health problems such as dizziness, back problems for men and pregnancy, childbirth for women. In addition, other children from the vulnerable group reported significantly better results compared to their teenage selves e.g. going back to school, getting a job etc. the study proves to show that children can grow up to be competent members of the society even if born into impoverished environment and under stressful situations as long as there is a balance between the environment, stress and support. she suggest early intervention programs and nurturing environments for children in vulnerable conditions to improve the child’s development in future.
Within psychology adolescence is described as a period of transition from childhood to adulthood. It is a period between year twelve and late teens, when the physical growth is complete, the person becomes sexually mature and establishes identity (Nolen-Hoeksema, Friedricson, Loftus & Wagenaar, 2009). During this period of development, the individual has to face several risk factors, which are considered as a hazard on normal psychological development of an individual (Colman, 2009). This means, that experiencing them is associated with vulnerability, developing mental health problems and problematic behaviors such as for instance greater risk taking, school related deviance and school failure, teen pregnancy, substance misuse, aggression, violence or vandalism or in other words delinquency and antisocial behavior (Perkins & Borden, 2003). Therefore risk factors have a potential not just endanger the present developmental period, but also jeopardize the future biological and psychological development (Beam, Gill-Rivas, Greenberger & Chen, 2002; Perkins & Borden, 2003). However, not all young individual will respond to risk factors by developing negative outcomes. Some develop resilience and adapt to changes and stressors (Crawford, 2006; Perkins & Borden, 2003). Furthermore it has been suggested, that risk factors are desirable for developing this kind of positive outcome (Fergus & Zimmerman, 2005). According to Fonagy et. al. (1994) (cited in Crawford, 2006) resilience can be defined as normal development under difficult conditions. It leads to overcoming and coping with the negative effects of exposure to risk factors (Fergus & Zimmerman, 2005). To maintain this, protective factors need to be put in place (Fergus & Zimmerman, 2...
In conclusion, development and improvement in early youth include collaboration of inner procedures, supported by outer help and stimulation. Understanding the idea of human development will bolster my training in evaluations, mediations and surveys. While both physical and biological changes affect the child, I should have the capacity to recognize
The study of children and their development is a new interdisciplinary field unifying research from sociology, anthropology, development psychology, law, and healthcare. Childhood studies emerged from the universal need to understand children’s development, their susceptibility to external factors, and what it means to be a child from the child 's perspective. Children differ depending on many factors, such as place, time, social status, religion, and tradition, and each of these aspects
As explored in my previous reflection, I will continue to follow Craig Gilner’s journey in It’s Kind of a Funny Story as it relates to adolescence and resilience. With adolescence being a time of transition and adjustment, resilience is very important for one’s mental health and wellbeing. The term resilience refers to one’s ability to healthily cope with challenges. One’s gender identity may influence the strategies one ultimately adopts, or is expected to adopt, through externalization or internalization. Despite it being easy to assume that one is better than the other, both have the potential of promoting and denying growth.
Bockern, S. V. & Brokenleg, M. (2003). The science of raising courageous kids. Reclaiming Children and Youth, 12 (1), 22-26.
The life course and systems perspective provides building blocks for understanding positive development during middle childhood. As parents and social workers, we must recognize that resilience is seldom an instinctive characteristic; rather, it is a process that is facilitated by influences within the child’s surrounding. Research suggest that high-risk behaviors among children increases when children perceives declining family involvement and community supports. Therefore, the primary goal of parents and professionals is to dedicate to the child’s well-being positive internal and external supports that promote maximal protective factors, while minimizing risk factors for optimal developmental transitions. Chapter 5 of Elizabeth D. Hutchinson, Dimensions of Human Behavior The Changing Life Course 3rd, 2008.
Vitaro, F., & Carbonneau, R. (2005). Resilient Children of Parents Affected By a Dependency. Ottawa, Ont.: Health Canada].
Literature on criminology on the other hand defined some similar factors as "risk factors" and elucidated that in absence of the "risk factors", CSA survivors can exhibit positive functioning and achieve successful lives (Walsh et al, 2010; Anderson, 2006; Hyman and Williams, 2001). This research paper investigated both the childhood studies and criminology literature in order to define the resilience factors as being the precursors of identifying risk and protective factors (Walsh et al, 2010; Anderson, 2006; Hyman and Williams, 2001; Dutton & Greene, 2010). The aim of this paper is to identify the individual and environmental factors that lead the children of childhood sexual abuse to resilient and positive functioning lives. Some resiliency oriented diversion program and policy recommendations have also been offered.