Teaching Resiliency to our Children

Affirming and teaching resiliency, the capacity to "bounce back" in the face of acute crisis or chronic stress, can help us assist children who are struggling amid life's challenges. The presence of risk factors at home, at school, and in the community does not automatically mean a child will fall into negative or destructive behavior patterns. In fact, if the resiliency of the child is supported by building on the critical developmental "assets,", the child may thrive despite the presence of risk factors.

In the book "The Resilient Self," Stephen and Sylvia Wolin identified the following traits of resiliency.

Traits of Resilient Individuals
Seven traits of adults who survived a troubled childhood:

1. insight (awareness of dysfunction)
2. independence (distancing self from troubles)
3. relationships (supportive connections with others)
4. initiative (self/other-help actions)
5. creativity (self-expression, transformation)
6. humor (re-framing in a less threatening key)
7. and morality (justice and compassion rather than revenge).

Traits of Resilient Families
Families that cope well under stress create a climate of optimism, resourcefulness, and nurturing which parallels the traits of resilient individuals. Research on family strengths suggests the following traits of resilient families:

1. commitment,
2. cohesion,
3. adaptability,
4. communication,
5. spirituality,
6. conceitedness,
7. effective resource management,
8. and coherence.

As with individual research, there is no consensus on what constitutes a resilient family. In general, families who demonstrate one or more of the traits mentioned above are more likely to be adaptive (i.e., make constructive changes, avoid destructive conflict, persevere under stressful circumstances).

Community Strengths

Healthy Communities, Healthy Youth present a vision of community strengths:

1. opportunities for youth to participate in community life;
2. avenues provided for youth to contribute to the welfare of others;
3. availability of opportunities to connect with peers and adults in the community; and
4. adequate access to community facilities and events for youth.

They suggest community health is reflected by:

1) community norms regarding issues such as adult alcohol use and concern about youth;

2) institutional policies as reflected in a funding priority for education and youth activities, and in the presence of a functioning community coordinating committee for youth issues; and

3) specific youth outcome measures, including reduction in teen pregnancy and school dropout rates, and increased involvement in community service. The Community Assets Model emphasizes the import of youth ideas and action in changing risk conditions.

Availability of structured activities does make a difference, directly as competence-building, and indirectly in providing alternatives to violence and vandalism or encouraging positive peer role models. In addition, families, especially those under high stress and most at-risk, cannot be expected to insulate and nurture children alone. It truly takes a whole village to raise a child. Children need support from adults, both outside of the family and within.

Affirming strengths, even in the most difficult circumstances, is the foundation of resiliency assessment and philosophy. For individuals, persistence, optimism, and creative problem solving are significant assets. Cohesion and conflict resolution are critical family strengths, while support networks and collective problem solving characterize resilient communities.

Programming should prioritize preventive, competence-building activities, since avoiding risks and building on strengths is less expensive and complex than intervening after problems occur or intensify. As youth and families internalize positive attitudes and skills, they use existing assets to shape their own future.

Evaluations of youth programs also indicate that programs should be as holistic as possible, addressing a variety of needs (physical, intellectual, spiritual) rather than focusing only on one, and maximizing collaborative efforts rather than offering fragmented programs.

This information has been adapted from:

PRACTICE WISDOM
The Resiliency Paradigm: A Critical Tool for Practitioners
Ben Silliman, University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service
Human Development and Family Life Bulletin
A Review of Research and Practice
Volume 4, Issue 1, Spring 1998

References
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Anatovsky, Aaron. (1987). Unravelling the mystery of health: How people manage stress and stay well. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Baldwin, A. L., C. Baldwin, and R. E. Cole. (1990). Stress-resistant families and stress-resistant children. In J. Rolf, A. S. Masten, D. Chichetti, K. H. Neuchterlein, and S. Weintraub. (Eds.). Risk and protective factors in the development of psychopathology. New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 257-280.
Bernard, Bonnie. (1991). Fostering resiliency in kids: Protective factors in the family, school, and community. Western Regional Center for Drug-free Schools and Communities.
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Klohnen, Eva C., Elizabeth A. Vandewater, and Amy Young. (1996). Negotiating the middle years: Ego-resiliency and successful midlife adjustment in women. Psychology and Aging, 11, (3), 431-442.
Kretzmann, John P. and John L. McKnight, (1993). Building communities from the inside out: A path toward finding and mobilizing a communities assets. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University.
Masten, Ann D., Karin M. Best, and Norman Garmezy. (1990). Resilience and development: Contributions from the study of children who overcome adversity. Development and Psychopathology, 2, 425-444.
McCubbin, Hamilton I. and Marilyn A. McCubbin. (1988). Typologies of resilient families: Emerging roles of social class and ethnicity. Family Relations, 37, (3), 247-254.
McCubbin, Hamilton I., Marilyn A. McCubbin, and Anne I. Thompson. (1993). Resiliency in families: The role of family schema and appraisal in family adaptation to crisis. In T. H. Brubaker. (Ed.). Family Relations: Challenges for the Future. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Olson, David H., Candyce S. Russell, and Douglas H. Sprenkle. (1989). Circumplex model: Systematic assessment and treatment of families. New York, NY: Haworth Press.
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Source: Human Development & Family Life Bulletin, 1998, Volume 4 (1), 4-5.

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