Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-g8jcs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T03:44:23.908Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Making Sense of Resilience: A Useful Step on the Road to Creating and Maintaining Resilient Students and School Communities

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 February 2016

Judith A. Murray*
Affiliation:
Schools of Psychology/Social Work and Applied Human Services, The University of Queensland, Australia
*
Schools of Psychology/Social Work and Applied Human Services, McElwain Psychology Building, The University of Queensland Australia, St. Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia. Email: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

Resilience is a concept used frequently among researchers and educational and health authorities in discussions of attempts aimed at reducing social, emotional and educational problems among our children and young people. The central role of schools in the lives of children has logically meant the involvement of schools in any programs aimed at building resilience in children and adolescents. However, those who would be most intimately involved in implementing such programs are often confused by the concept and what is expected of them to build resilience on a daily basis. This paper seeks to clarify some of this confusion by highlighting some of the main findings about resilience in the existing literature. It then seeks to consider how this knowledge can be considered within each of the areas that will be needed to work as an integrated whole to achieve lasting results, as well as considering some of the issues that may hinder that goal.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2004

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Beardslee, W.R. & Podorefsky, D. (1988). Resilient adolescents whose parents have serious affective and other psychiatric disorders: Importance of self-understanding and relationships. American Journal of Psychiatry, 145(1), 6369.Google ScholarPubMed
Benard, , (1995). Fostering resilience in children: ERIC Digest. ERIC: Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education. Urbano, IL.Google Scholar
Borman, G.D., Hewes, G.M., Overman, L.T., & Brown, S. (2002). Comprehensive school reform and student achievement: A meta-analysis. (Report No. 59). Baltimore, MD: Centre for Research on the Education of Students Placed at Risk (CESPAR), The John Hopkins University.Google Scholar
Calhoun, L.G., & Tedeschi, R.G. (1991). Perceiving benefits in traumatic events: Some issues for practicing psychologists The Journal of Training and Practice and Professional Psychology, 5(1), 4552.Google Scholar
Ciarrochi, J., Deane, F.P., Wilson, C.J., & Rickwood, D. (2002) Adolescents who need help the most are the least likely to seek it: The relationship between low emotional competence and low intention to seek help. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 30(2), 173188.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Consortium on School-Based Promotion of Social Competence. (1994). The school-based promotion of social competence: Theory, research, practice, and policy. In Haggerty, R.J., Sherrod, L., Garmezy, N. & Rutter, M. (Eds.). Stress, risk, and resilience in children and adolescents: Processes, mechanisms, and interventions, (pp. 268316). New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Cowen, E.L. (1994). The enhancement of psychological wellness: Challenges and opportunities. American Journal of Community Psychology, 22(2), 149179.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Deane, F.P., Wilson, C.J., Ciarrochi, J., & Rick wood, D. (2002). Mental health seeking in young people. (Report for National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, Grant YS060). Wollongong, NSW: University of Wollongong, Illawarra Institute for Mental Health.Google Scholar
Donald, M., Dower, J., Lucke, J., & Raphael, B. (1999). Report of the Queensland Young People's Mental Health Survey, Queensland Health.Google Scholar
Dumont, M., & Provost, M.A. (1999). Resilience in adolescents: Protective role of social support, coping strategies, self-esteem, and social activities on experience of stress and depression. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 28(3), 343363.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edelwich, J. (1980). Burnout: Stages of disillusionment in the helping professions. New York: Human Sciences Press.Google Scholar
Egeland, B., Carlson, E. & Sroufe, L.A. (1993). Resilience as process. Development and Psychopathology, 5, 517528.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freitas, A.L. & Downey, G. (1998). Resilience: A dynamic perspective. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 22(2), 263285.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gardner, J. & Harmon, T. (2002). Exploring resilience from a parent's perspective: A qualitative study of six resilient mothers of children with an intellectual disability. Australian Social Work, 55(1), 6068.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garmezy, N. (1990). A closing note: Reflections on the future. In Rolf, J., Masten, A., Cicchetti, D., Nuechterlein, K., & Weintraub, S. (Eds.). Risk and protective factors in the development of psychopathology. (pp. 527534). New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gillies, R.M. (2000). The maintenance of cooperative and helping behaviours in cooperative groups. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 70, 97111.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gilligan, R. (1999). Enhancing the resilience of children and young people in public care by mentoring their talents and interest. Child and Family Social Work, 4, 187196.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gordon, E.W. & Song, L.D. (1994). Variations in the experience of resilience. In: Wang, M.C. & Gordon, E.W.. (Eds.) Educational resilience in inner-city America: Challenges and prospects, (pp. 2743). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Grotberg, (1995) A guide to promoting resilience in children: Strengthening the human spirit. Netherlands: Bernard Van Leer Foundation, http://resilient.uiuc.edu/library/grot95b.htmlGoogle Scholar
Hammen, C., & Goodman-Brown, T. (1990). Self-schemas and vulnerability to specific life stress in children at risk for depression. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 14(2), 215227.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hubble, M.A., Duncan, B.L. & Miller, S.D. (1999). The heart and soul of change: What works in psychotherapy. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Janoff-Bulman, R. (1992). Shattered assumptions: Towards a new psychology of trauma. New York: The Free Press.Google Scholar
Kahili, S. (1988). Intervention for burnout in the helping professions: A review of the empirical evidence. Journal of Counselling Review, 22(3), 310342.Google Scholar
Kaufmann, J., Cook, A., Arny, L., Jones, B., & Pittinsky, T. (1994). Problems defining resiliency: Illustrations from the study of maltreated children. Development and Psychopathology, 6, 215229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kotchick, B.A., & Forehand, R. (2002). Putting parenting in perspective: A discussion of the contextual factors that shape parenting practices. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 11(3), 255269.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kumpfer, K.L. (1999). Factors and processes contributing to resilience: The resilience framework. In Glanz, & Johnson, (Eds.) Resilience and development: Positive life adaptations. (pp. 179224). New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum.Google Scholar
Luthar, S.S., & Cicchetti, D. (2000). The construct of resilience: Implications for interventions and social policies. Development and Psychopathology, 2, 857885.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luthar, S.S., Cicchetti, D., & Becker, B. (2000). The construct of resilience: A critical evaluation and guidelines for future work. Child Development, 71(3), 543562.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Martinek, T.J., & Hellison, D.R. (1997) Fostering resiliency in underserved youth through physical activity. Quest, 49, 3449.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Masten, A.S. (1994) Resilience in individual development: Successful adaptation despite risk and adversity. In Wang, M.C. & Gordon, E.W. (Eds.). Educational resilience in inner-city America: Challenges and prospects, (pp. 325). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Masten, A.S. (2001) Ordinary magic: Resilience processes in development. American Psychologist, 56(3), 227238.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Masten, A.S., Best, K.M., & Garmezy, N. (1990). Resilience and development: Contribution from the study of children who overcome adversity. Development and Psychopathology, 2, 425444.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Masten, A.S., & Coatsworth, J.D. (1998) The development of competence in favourable and unfavourable environments. American Psychologist, 53(2), 205220.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mitchell, J.T., & Bray, G.P. (1990) Emergency services stress: Guidelines for preserving the health and careers of emergency services personnel. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Moffitt, T.E. (1993). Adolescence-limited and life-course persistent antisocial behavior: A developmental taxonomy. Psychological Review, 100(4), 674701.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mzarek, D. & Haggerty, R.J. (1994). Reducing risks for mental disorders. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.Google Scholar
Neimeyer, R.A. (2000) Lessons of loss: A guide to coping. Clayton South, VIC: Centre for Grief Education.Google Scholar
O'Grady, D., & Metz, J.R. (1987). Resilience in children at high risk for psychological disorder. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 12(1), 323.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Orrell-Valente, J.K., Pinderhughes, E.E., Valente, E., & Laird, R.D. (1999). If it's offered, will they come? Influences on parents' participation in a community-based conduct problems prevention program. American Journal of Community Psychology, 27(6), 753783.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patterson, J.M. (2002). Integrating family resilience and family stress theory. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 64(2), 349360.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patton, G.C., Glover, S., Bond, L., Butler, H., Godfrey, C., Di Pietro, G., & Bowes, G. (2000). The Gatehouse Project: A systematic approach to mental health promotion in secondary schools. Australia and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 34, 586593.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pianta, R.C., & Walsh, D.J. (1998). Applying the construct of resilience in schools: Cautions from a developmental systems perspective. School Psychology Review, 27(3), 407417.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prior, M., Sanson, A., Smart, D. & Oberklaid, F. (2000). Pathways from infancy to adolescence: Australian Temperament Project 1983–2000. Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies.Google Scholar
Raphael, B., & Wilson, J.R. (Eds.). (2000). Psychological debriefing: Theory, practice and evidence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rowe, K.J., & Rowe, K.S. (May, 2002). What matters most: Evidence-based findings in key factors affecting educational experiences and outcomes for girls and boys throughout their primary and secondary schooling. Supplementary submission to House of Representatives Standing Committee on Education and Training. Inquiry into the Education of Boys. Australia.Google Scholar
Rutter, M. (2003). Commentary: Nature-nurture interplay in emotional disorders. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 44(7), 934944.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schwartzberg, S.S., & Janoff-Bulman, R. (1991). Grief and the search for meaning: Exploring the assumptive worlds of bereaved college students Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 10(3), 270288.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steinhausen, H-C., & Metzke, C.W. (2001). Risk, competency, vulnerability and protective factors influencing mental health in adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 30(3), 259280.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Terr, L. (1991). Childhood traumas: An outline and overview. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 148(1), 1020.Google ScholarPubMed
Walsh, F. (1996) The concept of family resilience: Crisis and challenge. Family Process, 35(3), 261–181.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Waters, M. & Crook, R. (1990). Sociology One: Principles of sociological analysis for Australians 2nd Ed. Melbourne: Longman Cheshire.Google Scholar
Weare, K. (2002). Editorial: Don't shoot the piano player: Why we need to do more to promote the mental health and emotional and social competence of teachers. Health Education, 102(6), 269.Google Scholar
Webster-Stratton, C., & Taylor, T. (2001) Nipping early risk factors in the bud: Preventing substance abuse, delinquency, and violence in adolescence through interventions targeted at young children (0–8 years). Prevention Science, 2(3), 165192.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Werner, E.E., & Smith, R.S. (1992). Overcoming the odds: High risk children from birth to development. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wyman, P.A., Pedro-Carroll, J., & Forbes-Jones, E.L. (2003) Resilience, Childhood. In Gullotta, T.P. & Bloom, M. (Eds.). Encyclopedia of primary prevention and health promotion, (pp. 889895) New York: Kluwer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar