Educational psychology and resilience in developing contexts: A rejoinder to Toland and Carrigan (2011)

Abstract

If educational psychologists wish to make a meaningful difference as practitioners, both to the children they work with and the ecologies these children come from, then, knowledge and application of resilience theory is crucial. Toland and Carrigan (2011) underscore this relationship in their 2011 article in this Journal. In our contribution below, we extend their assertion by urging greater attention to the interactive processes which underpin resilience and, more particularly, to how proximal, face-to-face transactions embedded in mesosystems and microsystems and nuanced by the distal, macrosystemic influences, mould resilience. Using examples from resilience research conducted in South Africa we argue that such a focus (i.e. on the transactional ecosystemic nature of resilience) is crucial in developing contexts. Furthermore, we contend that sensitivity to mechanisms of resilience as well as the contexts and cultures in which these continuously evolve, begs an approach to practice that foregrounds the ecosystemic, promotes child-ecology transactions, and is cautious about generalizing resilience theory to children across diverse contexts, cultures and time periods. To conceptualize resilience as anything but a reciprocal, dynamic, contextually-influenced interaction between children and their ecologies, would be to fail children in developing contexts.

Impact of physical, psychological, and sexual violence on social adjustment of school children in India

“…More work is needed in this area to fully comprehend the ways in which culture affects violence towards children. Although we are cognizant of new perspectives urging for a paradigm shift in understanding child wellbeing with a focus on positive rather than negative indicators for children, activity rather than passivity, and survival rather than victimization (see for example Saith & Wazir, 2010;Theron & Donald, 2012), we also argue that illuminating the scope of the problem in previously unstudied areas is an important first step towards addressing the issue.…”

Youth Resilience and Culture

“…For example, some researchers are increasingly considering how acculturation processes influence the resilience of highly mobile youth in European and American countries (see, for example, Masten, Liebkind, & Hernandez, 2012); and/or how culturally salient values inform (i.e., promote and/or restrain) resilience processes of youth in Afghanistan (Panter-Brick & Eggerman, 2012); and/or the need to account for how African youths' resilience processes are informed by traditional African culture, rather than in ways that echo Eurocentric theories of resilience (Theron, 2012;Theron & Donald, 2013;Theron, Theron, & Malindi, 2013). Other researchers (e.g.…”

An Assessment of Resiliency and Life Satisfaction in High School-Aged Students in Belize

“…Resiliency is recognized as an ecological phenomenon shaped by cultural influences and therefore, knowledge and application of resilience is crucial if school psychologists wish to impact students and the cultures they come from (Theron & Donald, 2012). Due to diverse cultures and contexts, the resiliency building process cannot be assumed to be the same for all children globally.…”

“…However a cultural understanding of resilience allows individuals within that context to be responsible and proactive toward their own resilience. Therefore, individuals will be able to take necessary action to increase resilience that is culture-specific even if those actions may deviate from expectations that other cultures view as the norm (Theron & Donald, 2012). Through the knowledge of resiliency within a specific context and across a variety of domains, school psychologists will be able to make well-informed prevention and intervention strategies; inform teachers and staff of resiliency building practices; and collaborate within the community to produce resilient youths.…”