INTERNATIONAL CHILD AND YOUTH CARE NETWORK

13 JULY 2000
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Studies of resilience show what factors have enabled kids and families to manage difficulties and challenges in the past — but they also indicate specific competency areas we could be adding to the curriculum we teach in our day-to-day child and youth care practice ...

Fifteen Elements of Resilience

Edith Grotberg, writing in Reaching Today's Youth*, offers the following summary from the International Resilience Research Project which surveyed more than 1200 families from 22 countries: To overcome adversities, children, youth, and adults draw from three sources of resilience: I HAVE, I AM, and I CAN:

I HAVE ...

1. People around me I trust and who love me, no matter what 

2. People who set limits for me so I know when to stop before there is danger or trouble 

3. People who show me how to do things right by the way they do things 

4. People who want me to learn to do things on my own 

5. People who help me when I am sick, in danger, or need to learn

I AM ...

6. A person people can like and love 

7. Glad to do nice things for others and show my concern 

8. Respectful of myself and others 

9. Willing to be responsible for what I do 

10. Confident things will be all right

I CAN ...

11. Talk to others about things that frighten me or bother me 

12. Find ways to solve problems that I face 

13. Control myself when I feel like doing something not right or dangerous 

14. Figure out when it is a good time to talk to someone or take action 

15. Find someone to help me when I need it (Grotberg, 1995)

Grotberg, E.H. (1995). A guide to promoting resilience in children:: Strengthening the human spirit. The Hague, Netherlands: The Bernard van Leer Foundation.

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* Read the article in a whole issue devoted to the subject: 
Grotberg, E (1998). I am, I have, I can: What families worldwide taught us about resilience. Reaching Today's Youth, Vol.2 Issue 3. pp 36-39

Visit this issue of Reaching Today's Youth — view the Table of Contents and read the Leading Article

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