Rebutance Theory: The Retigence Of Resilience Theory

People have learned to be resilient in order to overcome serious hardships. A person’s resilience can be seen through how they handle bad experiences; to be resilient in the face of adversity. People who never give up and always fight back even when it gets hard are resilient. Some believe that resilience is a trait that can be learned.

One must wonder how a person with Steve’s shocking childhood could grow into a man who is successful, not only in his career but in his personal life as well. Resilience theory is a possible explanation as to why Steve survived, despite the odds that were stacked against him. Resilience theory is a strength based approach which provides a framework that focuses on positive outcomes and not just the negative ones. The idea is that it promotes what works best while de-emphasizing psychopathology. Resilience theory defines resilience and possesses several key terms, which include protective/risk factors. Research on resilience has been valuable in directing attention toward youth who succeed in spite of high levels of stress and economic instability, as it identifies factors that can serve as protective functions which foster competence.

On the other hand some factors work against one’s resiliency such as an absence of a parent, violence, and abuse. Being resilient is an ability learned throughout a person’s life and experiences. It cannot be taught but must be

Resilience is about being independent, standing on your own two feet or taking back the power.

For some people the strong word resilience can impact one’s life in a significant way. Overall, resiliency is having the ability to still enjoy and continue your life with positive, good times, regardless of a hard past or bad experience. It can be shown in various ways throughout a text, including the setting, the plot, and characterization. This is how the texts, The Other Wes Moore, The Art of Resilience, and The Third and Final Continent share their common theme. This theme the three texts convey is that resiliency is vital for a positive as well as successful life.

Over decades, the research of resilience has developed from understanding individual’s resilience qualities and protective factors, to the process of resilience and the interventions that promote resilience (Richardson, 2002; Wright et al., 2013). Recently, the focus of resilience shift to the neurobiological process because of the development of science and technology (Wright et al., 2013). While these literatures emerging, there are two noteworthy issues. First, the outcome of the studies were mainly emphasized on main-stream population (Ungar, 2006). Second, little attention was given to resilience across cultures (Ungar, 2006; Ungar et al., 2005). Hence, it is important to investigate how resilience is being defined and understand in different cultures; what are the challenges when conducting a cross cultural research; and what are the key elements when implementing intervention in different cultures.

Resilience is often an indicator of future success as an adult and can help to protect children against emotional and behavioural problems etc

Edward’s says: “Resilience is accepting your new reality, even if it's less good than the one you had before. You can fight it, you can do nothing but scream about what you've lost, or you can accept that and try to put together something that's good.” (Edwards). This quote from Elizabeth Edwards speaks about how people should respond in the face of adversity and how this response creates a resilient person. A resilient person in the face of adversity will gather their bearings and find a new solution to their original problem. However, people who do not possess this quality are more likely to drop everything and give up. This quote supports my definition because in my definition I state that human resilience is “the ability to come from your lowest point, back to your highest” and Edwards’ quote states that “Resilience is accepting your new reality… and try to put together something that’s good” or in other words, to come back from your low

Resilience, fundamentally, is the ability to bounce back from hardship and the phenomenon of overcoming stress or adversity, for example: personal crises, poverty, mental illness and trauma (Occupational Health & Wellbeing, 2012). This skill can help individuals overcome the most difficult of situations (Occupational Health & Wellbeing, 2012). Resilience theorists generally agree that the presence of protective factors can reduce the effects of exposure to adversity. The more protective factors (or “assets”) available, the more resilient a person will be. Protective factors are conditions or attributes that help people deal more effectively with stressful events and eliminate risk. On the contrary, risk factors are attributes or characteristics

Resilience is defined as, “the ability to become strong, healthy, or successful again after something bad happens” (Merriam Webster par 1). Resilience is shown when people use their strength when dealing with adversity. When people are experiencing negative circumstances resilience may lead to positive outcomes (PBS Par 1).

Resilience is a term that is often applied to those who have faced hardship and viewed the experience in a positive light as an opportunity to grow and change for the better (Wagnild & Collins, 2009). The definition however seems to vary from place to place. Ungar et al. (2008) stated “definitions of resilience are ambiguous when viewed across cultures" (p.174) which is why the understanding of resilience may be difficult to capture (as cited in Windle, Bennett & Noyes, 2011). Although the literature agrees on several common themes about resilience there are many varying opinions on how to define the concept or the attributing factors. Earvolino-Ramirez (2007) and

Scholars define resilience as the outcome of successful adaptation to adversity (Zutra, Hall, & Murray, 2010). Resilience is the ability to recover from adversities challenges in a manner that leaves an individual more flexible and better able to meet future challenges. Resilience involves an ability to react creatively and constructively to change while recognizing that change is an ongoing part of life (Mikail, 2014). Zutra and Hall identify two core dimensions of resilience:

1. How do “effortful control” and “affiliativeness” relate to positive outcomes in children and how do they relate to the “theory of resiliency?” Are these approaches sufficient?

Gilligan, R. (2000) _Adversity, resilience and young people: the protective value of positive school and spare time experiences, Children and Society_, Vol 14 (1), 37-47

First of all, I would like to define what resilience is. Major scholars believe it is the process to recover from trauma, or the ability to respond to adversity. According to Sergeant and Laws-Chapman (2012), resilience refers to “the ability to adapt to adverse conditions while maintaining a sense of purpose, balance, and positive mental and