Using resilience theory and
practice to improve emotional
wellbeing and community
cohesion
Professor Angie Hart
University of Brighton
What do we want to do today?
• Help make sense of the most relevant research on
resilience
• Demonstrate the relevance to schools of Resilient
Therapy, a user-friendly approach that can be used by
practitioners, parents and children themselves
What is Resilience?
‘…refers to a class of phenomena
characterised by good outcomes in
spite of serious threats to adaptation or
development’
(Masten 2001)
Resilience is…
• Playing a bad hand well, rather than
getting a good hand
Ways of thinking about
resilience
• ‘Adequate provision of health resources necessary to
achieve good outcomes in spite of serious threats to
adaptation or development.’ (Ungar 2005b: 429)
• ‘Resilience is an emergent property of a hierarchically
organized set of protective systems that cumulatively
buffer the effects of adversity and can therefore rarely, if
ever, be regarded as an intrinsic property of individuals.’
(Roisman, Padrón et al. 2002: 1216)
For example, some very obvious
ones…
• To achieve their maximum potential kids
will be protected by having all the things
we know they need:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
good education
love and sense of belonging
decent standard of living
great parenting
intelligence
good looks
opportunities to contribute
Vulnerability factors
• Family: Poor, large families, parents with
low self-esteem, parents’ own history of
maltreatment, family breakdown, physical
and mental illness and a range of other
contextual factors (Iwaniec et al 2006)
• Child: Children with special needs
especially vulnerable
What is Resilience?
• A name for a set of processes showing that little
things can make a massive difference
• Very much about what we can do, not
something a child just gets born with
• A concept that has a vast research base behind
it and which can usefully structure our strategic
responses and practice decision making
• Rutter:
'Therapeutic actions need to focus on steps that
may be taken in order to reduce negative chain
reactions…Protection may also lie in fostering
positive chain reactions, and these, too, need
attention in therapeutic planning’
(Rutter, 1999: 137)
Implications
• Some kids do better than others having had very similar experiences
– we can be the factor that makes a massive difference
• Complexity theory: small changes, big effects; and we can’t always
see the protective effects immediately –daring to do things
differently, being open minded, confident
• There is hope for everybody! Resilience theory helps us to work
relentlessly towards better outcomes– helps us keep enthusiastic
and focused
• Resilience theory gives us a framework within which to plan positive
chain reactions with and for individual children (and for yourselves),
and to reduce negative ones
• For young people doing risky things it is still really helpful to get
some protective processes going
Resilient Therapy
• RT strategically harnesses selected therapeutic principles and
techniques
• Can be used across contexts and by different practitioners, including
parents and young people themselves
• Designed to work in people) as co-collaborators in the development
of the methodology rather than as recipients
• Is user-friendly and readily accessible – you don’t need a lengthy
specialised training
• Non-pathologising – ‘upbuilding’
Interventions that are proving
to have potential
-clubs and hobbies
-summer camps
-belonging to something good (families, peer groups
etc.)
- -doing good, volunteering etc.
-being paid
-holistic interventions that don’t just tackle ‘the issues’
or ‘one issue’
-having mentors who stick with disadvantaged kids
over time (challenge to ‘projects’ and specialisation)
-Using the mass media (celebs)
- exploiting the full potential of the internet, mobile
phones and other new technologies (Youth matters)
Basic References
Aumann, K., and Hart, A. Forthcoming (2009) Helping children with
complex needs bounce back: Resilient Therapy for parents and
professionals. Jessica Kingsley: London
Hart, A., Maddison, E., and Wolff, D.(eds) (2007) Community-university
partnerships in practice Niace:Leicester ISBN 978-1-86201-317-9
Hart, A. and Aumann, K. (2007) ‘An ACE way to engage in communityuniversity partnerships: Making links through Resilient Therapy’, in
A. Hart, E. Maddison, and D. Wolff,(eds) Community-university
partnerships in practice Niace:Leicester
Hart, A., Maddison, E. and Wolff, D. (2007) ‘Introduction’, in A. Hart, E.
Maddison, and D. Wolff (eds) Community-university partnerships in
practice Niace:Leicester
References continued
Hart, A. and Wolff, D. (2007) ‘View to the future: What have we learnt
and where might we go next?’, in A. Hart, E. Maddison, and D. Wolff
(eds) Community-university partnerships in practice Niace:Leicester
Hart, A. and Blincow, D. with Thomas, H. 2007 Resilient Therapy with
children and families Brunner Routledge: London ISBN 978-0-41540384-9
Hart, A. and Luckock, B. (2006) ‘Core principles and therapeutic
objectives for therapy with adoptive and permanent foster families’,
Fostering and Adoption 30(2) 29-42
Hart, A. and Wolff, D (2006) ‘Developing local “Communities of
Practice” through local community-university partnerships’,
Planning, Practice & Research 21:1, 121-138
References continued
Iwaniec, D., Larking, E. & Higgins, S. (2006) Research Review: Risk
and resilience in cases of emotional abuse. Child & Family Social
Work 11 (1), 73-82
Masten, A.S. (2001) ‘ Orginary magic: Resilience Processes in
Development’. American Psychologist 56, 3,.227-238.
Roisman, G.I., Padrón, E., Sroufe, L.A., & Engeland, B. (2002) ‘EarnedSecure Attachment Status in Retrospect and Prospect. Child
Development 73,4, 1204-1219.
Rutter, M. (1999) ‘Resilience concepts and findings: Implications for
Family Therapy’. Journal of Family Therapy 21, 119-144. The
quote in the Introduction is from page 135.
Ungar, M. (ed.) (2005) Handbook for working with children and youth:
Pathways to resilience across cultures and contexts. Thousand
Oaks & London: Sage Publications