CYC-Net

CYC-Net on Facebook CYC-Net on Twitter Search CYC-Net

Join Our Mailing List

Quote

Just a short piece ...

23 APRIL 2008

NO 1289

Resilience

Brain research opens new frontiers in working with children and youth experiencing conflict in school and community. Blending this knowledge with resilience science offers a roadmap for reclaiming those identified as "at risk." This article applies findings from resilience research and recent brain research to identify strategies for reaching challenging youngsters. All young persons have strengths and with positive support can change the course of their lives. They have resilient brains that can be "rewired" by positive learning experiences.

Resilience is the ability to thrive in spite of risk or adversity. Youth at risk and children at risk first came into wide use in the 1980s. Originally this referred to dangerous environments, such as disrupted families and dysfunctional schools. But terms like at-risk youth and high risk behavior shifted the focus from how to build supportive environments to finding supposed defects in the child. Those who labeled youth as "violent" or "predators" created fear of dangerous children while letting adults off the hook (Males, 1996).

Developmental psychologists see risk as resulting from the interaction of a child in the social network of family, school, peers, and community (Bronfenbrenner, 1986). In a healthy ecology, children develop their strengths. When they display significant behavioral problems, this usually is a symptom of "DIS-EASE" in the ecology rather than "disease" in the child. Each child has a checkerboard of strengths and limitations. Children are also endowed with unique temperaments which, depending on the match with persons in their ecology, can contribute to harmony or conflict (Windle, 1992). Many so-called "behavior disorders" in children are a result of a poor fit between the child and the environment.

The term resilience comes from physics: a resilient object bends under stress but then springs back
rather than breaks. To extend the analogy, a resilient youth not only springs back from adversity but can become stronger in the process, like tempered steel. They can develop an inner strength that has been called "survivor's pride" (Wolin & Wolin, 2004). This feeling of accomplishment that comes from solving challenging life problems is at the core of resilience. But those who take a "deficit" perspective overlook the potential strengths of youth to surmount difficult experiences and environments.

Initially some researchers thought resilience was a rare personality trait of a few invulnerable superkids (Anthony & Cohler, 1987). However, no person is invulnerable to extreme levels of stress. Still, regardless of external risk factors, by age thirty, a majority of persons are able to achieve successful life outcomes. Resilience turns out to be a natural trait of all humans. This should not be surprising since our brains are specifically wired to cope with problems. Humans cannot survive and thrive alone, but need encouragement from others.

Resilience is a combination of inner strengths and external supports (Lerner & Benson, 2003). All youngsters need supportive families, peers, schools, and mentors to optimally develop their potential strengths. Communities can be organized to build strengths or they can exacerbate problems. Thus the most "dangerous" schools are those with negative climates of disrespect among peers and adults (Hyman, 1997). But when schools and communities provide opportunities for positive development, youth thrive and achieve their potential.

Recent advances in resilience science provide a roadmap for positive youth development, even in the face of adversity. Perhaps the most exciting finding is that the human brain is designed to be resilient. Resilience is universal across all cultures and encoded in human DNA. New imaging techniques are providing a better understanding of key brain-based processes impacting risk and resilience. It turns out that the brain is in the business of overcoming risk.

It stores information bearing on our survival and well-being and discards most other data. Dry facts learned at school soon fade while events with strong emotions are etched in memory for a lifetime (Carter, 1999). A crisis can present a potent transformational event, since the outcome will likely be long remembered. For better or worse, problems can either be treated as occasions for punishment or opportunities for learning and growth.

LARRY K. BRENDTRO AND JAMES E. LONGHURST

Brendtro, Larry K. and Longhurst, James E. (2005). The resilient brain. Reclaiming Children and Youth, 14, 1. pp. 52-60.

REFERENCES

Anthony, E.J. and Cohler, B. (Eds.). (1987). The Invulnerable Child. New York. Guilford Press.

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1986). Alienation and the four worlds of childhood. Phi Delta Kappan, 67. pp. 430-436.

Carter, R. (1999). Mapping the Mind. Berkeley, CA. University of California Press.

Hyman, I. (1997). School Discipline and School Violence. Boston. Allyn and Bacon.

Lerner, R. and Benson, P. (Eds.). (2003). Developmental Assets and Asset-building Communities: Implications for Research, Policy and Practice. Minneapolis. Search Institute.

Males, M.A. (1996). The Scapegoat Generation: America's War on aAolescence. Monroe, ME. Common Courage Press.

Windle, M. (1992). Temperament and social support in adolescence: Interrelations with depressive symptoms and delinquent behavior. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 21. pp. 1-21.

Wolin, S. and Wolin, S.J. (2004). Shaping a brighter future by uncovering 'survivor's pride'. Retrieved Dec. 15. 2004 from: http//www.projectresilience.com/article19.htm

The International Child and Youth Care Network
THE INTERNATIONAL CHILD AND YOUTH CARE NETWORK (CYC-Net)

Registered Public Benefit Organisation in the Republic of South Africa (PBO 930015296)
Incorporated as a Not-for-Profit in Canada: Corporation Number 1284643-8

P.O. Box 23199, Claremont 7735, Cape Town, South Africa | P.O. Box 21464, MacDonald Drive, St. John's, NL A1A 5G6, Canada

Board of Governors | Constitution | Funding | Site Content and Usage | Advertising | Privacy Policy | Contact us

iOS App Android App