d. Increase resiliency
At least part of the beginning of the research on resiliency came out of research started in the 50’s in Hawaii . This research followed a multi-ethnic group with significant life obstacles. Through the research, they found that about two thirds of the group ended up with significant difficulties that might have been expected of the group, dropping out of school, early pregnancy, drugs, alcohol, criminal activity and various other problems. What caught the attention of the researchers though, was the approximately one third who did not have these problems. These children developed resiliency and though the researchers did not label it as such, self-efficacy.
From this early research came more research on resiliency, much of which was conducted as a part of extension programs in universities. In addition two further avenues of research were developed. Protective (and reflectively) Risk Factors as well as Developmental Assets. Resiliency, Protective Factors and Developmental Assets are all Strength Based. This represented a huge paradigm shift as the social sciences have long looked at finding and fixing problems while strength based approaches look for strengths, assets and resources and builds upon what is already there and what can be added, extended and expanded. Children and adults with greater resiliency are better able to weather the storms of life with minimal stress.
Be especially concerned with helping children develop strong healthy attachments, self-control and self-iniation. Some tools that are helpful for both assessing and building protective factors can be found at the Devereux and the Kaplan websites.
3 comments:
I think we need to work on developing resiliency in our children and the children we watch. It seems at this time period now, compared to historical times, those with resiliency are going to succeed more so then those with limited resiliency. The occupational benefits of resiliency are numerous. We need creative thinkers, problem solvers. Those of this next generation are finding that job security is the thing of the past, that they will be moving from job to job as never before. We need to give our children a head start by teaching them that whatever happens, we will handle it, we will do our best, we will come up with solutions that will help us succeed. We can find a way.
I believe I am a very resilient person! I can only hope my children also understand and learn that how to "bounce back" and learn from difficult situations!
We are definitely all born with different ways to cope with the world. Even in families, siblings aren't necessarily going to be able to deal with situations the same way.
We learn coping strategies as we grow and go through new experiences. Having a safe, loving home with supportive parents/ grandparents/siblings, etc. helps strengthen our ability to cope & bounce back. Learning healthy behavior from your family/friends helps as well. Unfortunately, we aren't given that precious "manual" when our kids are born & have to learn along the way with them.
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