p.3 the field has increasingly focused on identifying those variables that predict resilience
in the face of adversity and developing models for effective application.
p.4 The belief then is that every child capable of developing a resilient mind-set will be able to deal
more effectively with stress and pressure, to cope with everyday challenges, to bounce back from disappointments, adversity,
and trauma, to develop clear and realistic goals, to solve problems, to relate comfortably with others, and to treat oneself
and others with respect.
p.4 In 1994, elaborating further on the concept of wellness, [Emery] Cowen again emphasized the importance
of resilience within the broader concept of wellness... Additionally, the absence of pathology does not necessarily
equate with psychological wellness.
p.5 Resilience is suggested as but one of a number of constructs that protect or reduce vulnerability.
p.5 In this model, a single potential traumatic experience would not be expected to lead to a chronically
poor outcome. Instead it would be the cumulative, persistent, and pervasive presentation of stressors that promote
risk.
p.8 Rutter (1990) suggested that within the clinical realm resilience and vulnerability may be at opposite ends
of a continuum, reflecting susceptibility to adverse consequences at one end and neutral or positive consequences upon exposure
to risk at the others.
p.8 Yet, as Masten notes, resilience may be a common phenomenon resulting in most cases from the operation of "basic
human adaptational systems."
p.119 Of course, the most important first step in the study of any psychological construct is a clear and operational
definition... The definition of resilience is, therefore, intimately tied to those factors that are used to describe and measure
it.
[Poverty in Childhood and Adolescence, Felner]
p.130-131 what is now required is a broader, systematic framework for understanding resilience and predicting
the differential emergence of resilience... as well as for guiding actions that can be useful for making significant gains
in the face of conditions of risk... Here the focus is on understanding normal developmental trajectories as they
are shaped by the interactions between the individual and the primary contexts in which they grow, as well as understanding
the ways that contextual conditions can "bend" those pathways to build competencies or increase vulnerability... Hence, this
developmentally based approach starts by identifying those processes and contextual conditions that relate to "healthy" forms
of the outcomes of concern... They then consider the ways in which the proximal conditions... are different from those that
would be desirable. Resilience building strategies are then aimed at closing this "gap" in the desired direction... we need
greater precision and agreement in our definitions of the central concepts that mark potential points for intervention in
developmental pathways to resilience or disorder. Of particular concern are the ways in which we define risk, vulnerability,
resilience itself, protective conditions, and onset, as the failure to draw clear distinctions among these concepts may lead
to ambiguity and confusions that hamper the systematic accumulation of a body of knowledge for... reducing the marginal probability
of the emergence of disorder in the face of serious... hardship and disadvantage.
[Family Violence and Parent Psychopathology, Jaffee]
p.159 resilience results from a balance of risk and protective factors that change over time.
[Families as Contexts for Children's Adaptation, Sheridan, Eagle, Dowd]
p.166 Resilience refers to the process of successfully overcoming adversity (Patterson,
2002b). Traditional theories of resilience focused upon individuals and individual factors associated with adaptive adjustment,
such as... coping strategies... the need for understanding the protective factors that will prevent undesired outcomes.
p.167 A developmental perspective is also essential in understanding family resilience (Walsh, 1996). In
contrast to perspectives that view family resilience as a set of fixed traits or attributes, a developmental perspective views
resilience as a process in which interactions between risks and protective factors mediate a specified outcome. Within a developmental
framework, a family's ability to adapt and cope with adversity is a multidetermined process occurring over time and developed
in response to complex and changing conditions (Walsh, 1996).
p.171 To achieve such goals, both family empowerment and enhanced family functioning are essential. Ultimately,
for families to be resilient, they must be empowered. Empowerment models support families in proactively identifying needs,
mobilizing resources, and accomplishing goals through the development of personal capacities, strengths and abilities... Procedures
for empowering families are best conceptualized through an asset-based, family centered approach
p.171 As a process that promotes engagement, self-determination, and skill development, family-centered
services assist family members to actively participate in enhancing their own lives. Families are engaged in identifying their
own needs, mobilizing resources on their own behalf, and accomplishing self-determined goals through the development of personal
capacities, strengths, and abilities. through such processes, attainment of long-term, generalized positive outcomes is maximized.
p.172 When building resilience through a family-centered framework, professional roles focus on developing
capacities. Capacity building begins with an understanding and appreciation for "where the family is." ... family-centered
approaches strive to promote the acquisition of family and child competencies... To build family resilience, [professional
family support] services must attend proactively to growth-producing behaviors.
[Building Educational Opportunity, Elias, Parker, Rosenblatt]
p.317-318 One compelling view of resilience positions the construct... as a transactional and three-dimensional
(person, environment, and time) theoretical framework. In this model, resilience refers to a process in which specific
protective influences moderate the effect of risk processes within both individual and environment over time in order to foster
adaptive outcomes... resilience would comprise interactions between risk and protective processes, and in
this way might offer the substantial informative value of being able to prescribe particular protective processes as ameliorative
to specific areas of risk. [JLJ - a great idea for game theory]
