Pathways to Resilience Among Children in Child Welfare, Corrections, Mental Health and Educational Settings: Navigation and Negotiation

Abstract

In this paper I explore how social service delivery systems influence the pathways children travel to resilience. In particular, I look at children's navigation to the health resources that are available through service delivery systems and their negotiation with service providers for service once under a provider's mandate. Two case examples are used to illustrate health-enhancing and health-challenging patterns of service provision and utilization among high-risk youth. I then address two questions that are critical to understanding children's pathways to resilience: ''What services do children say they need to achieve resilience?'' and ''How does the structure of services affect children's access to the health resources required to nurture and sustain resilience?'' A large and varied literature has examined resilience in at-risk children and youth from the perspective of their behaviour and psychosocial characteristics. Less developed is our understanding of the structural conditions that support the healthy development of children who lack individual, family, community, and sociopolitical resources to sustain health when faced with the multiple adversities of lives lived at-risk. Furthermore, we know little about children's pathways through the different systems that are mandated to provide for their needs. In particular we have little theory to explain how children manage to survive and thrive with or without these services.In this paper I explore how the social service delivery systems that most influence the day-to-day lives of at-risk children in Western Correspondence should be directed to Michael Ungar,

The Spectrum of Visibility: Youth Experiences of Marginalization and Homelessness

“…This fits with Ungar's (2005) findings that youth undergo a dual process of navigating and negotiating resources. It also extends Ungar's (2005) findings by providing suggestions for how service providers could support youth navigating and negotiating social service systems. The participants emphasized the importance of service providers getting to know the youth and their circumstances, spending time "understanding who we are" (Kris).…”

“…Ungar (2006) found that these children and youth go through a dual process of navigating and negotiating in order to locate resources and services. There is little research regarding the influence of power, marginalization, or personal agency of the children and youth accessing social services; rather, some have suggested that the main focus has been on intervention and outcomes (Karabanow, 2010;Ungar, 2005). Ungar (2005) argues that researchers need to spend more time engaging with the youth who access these services, and considering how their personal agency influences their ability to access social resources and supports.…”

“…There is little research regarding the influence of power, marginalization, or personal agency of the children and youth accessing social services; rather, some have suggested that the main focus has been on intervention and outcomes (Karabanow, 2010;Ungar, 2005). Ungar (2005) argues that researchers need to spend more time engaging with the youth who access these services, and considering how their personal agency influences their ability to access social resources and supports. This could provide an opportunity to explore how at-risk youth can mobilize resources to become resilient in their communities and manage experiences of unstable housing.…”

Resiliencia educativa de estudiantes ante los riesgos sociales generados por la barras juveniles de fútbol en Honduras

“…Al contrario, las instituciones de la sociedad son llamadas a proveer servicios y oportunidades para los más vulnerables (Ungar 2005). A este tipo de Resiliencia se le llama resiliencia transformativa, definiéndose como la capacidad de una sociedad determinada de cambiar la adversidad y las amenazas en oportunidades de transformación positiva (Valikangas 2010).Desde esta mirada la resiliencia se entiende como un fenómeno contextualizado.…”

International Perspectives On Trauma And Resilience Among Immigrant Students

“…Psychological research on educational resilience is still limited and typically focuses on identifying the individual characteristics of resilient students who thrive academically in the face of adversity (Williams & Bryan, 2013). Example characteristics include optimism, intrinsic motivation, assertiveness, the ability to solve problems, perceived social support, and having goals and aspirations (Ungar, 2005). As a result, these and other characteristics are targeted in school-related interventions, but as Williams and Portman (2014) point out-and parallel to the debate among researchers of resilience more generally-viewing resilience as a fixed trait rather than a combination of traits and external protective factors disallows any efforts to strengthen it in the face of risks and traumas.…”