Research Findings of the International Resilience Project

Presented By:

Michael Ungar, Ph.D. With contributions from members of the International Resilience

ProjectSchool of Social Work, Dalhousie University

6414 Coburg Rd., Halifax, NS, Canada B3H 2A7www.resilienceproject.org irp@dal.ca

Sasha (from Winnipeg)“The guidance counsellor right now at my school was my teacher last year and at the time I had an eight month old son and it was really hard for me to get to school and to do well and stuff. I had a big attitude when I came. And one day I decided I wasn’t going to come to school no more and I told my teacher, Pat, and she just said that everything was going to be okay if I made it okay and that she would help me everyday to get to school. She would pick me up. She would phone me. She would give me bus tickets. She bought my son a sled and she just told me it was going to be okay. And I came and I did it and I finished the whole year . . . if she wasn’t there I would have just probably dropped out.”

Akili (from Tanzania)“I am not independent as I still depend on my mother. Previously I was depending on my father and my mother but since I got pregnant my father deserted me and he doesn’t like to see me. . . I depend on my mother for everything…. The main protector of my life is myself and it is not proper to disturb my mother. I feel as I made a mistake of getting pregnant before the right time, I have to take care of myself . . . My mother is helping me to get employed so that I can live a good life. . . If I have money I think I can solve my problems. I have no money because I am not running any business….My goals are to have a job or a business which will let me rent my own room, where I can live with my child, so that I can depend on my own instead of depending on my mother.”

Two Problems

Challenge to account for the culture and context in which resilience occursCulture-bound arbitrariness in the selection of what is a “positive outcome”

Studying Resilience across Cultures and Contexts

The International Resilience Project (www.resilienceproject.or

g)14 sites on five continentsMixed and Integrated methods

The International Resilience Project

Southern Canada (3 sites)

Sheshatshiu, Labrador

United States

Colombia

Gambia

South Africa

Russia

IsraelPalestine India

China

Tanzania

An “Iterative” Design

Team met in Halifax (March 2003 and June 2005)We developed:

An integrated qualitative and quantitative methodology that we then piloted in all 14 sites

MethodologyFindings are based on (quantitatively):

Pilot study development and validation of the Child and Youth Resilience Measure (CYRM)-a 58-item measure with an additional 15 site specific questionsYouth responded on a 5-point Likert scale from “Not at all” to “A lot”Analysis of findings from administration of the CYRM to 1451 children globally • (694 males = 47.9%; 757 females =

52.1%) adolescents (mean age = 16 years, S.D.= 2.653)

Site specific sample questions

GambiaDo you trust your parents to choose the person you will marry?Does your parents’ security depend on your income?

Site specific sample questions

RussiaDoes your family’s economic and social background influence your peers’ attitudes toward you?

SheshatshiuDo you have any knowledge in suicide intervention?

MethodologyFindings are based on (qualitatively):

Collection of 89 individual interviews and/or life histories from youth in 14 research sitesObservations of youth and five focus groups with adultsField notes of the study’s iterative design process

Seeking convergenceQualitative and quantitative approaches occur simultaneouslyResults shared between team membersFlexible and emergent development of both qualitative and quantitative tools (advisory committees, focus groups, dialogical reciprocity with participants-youth and elders)Variability is encouraged in administration of CYRM, (questions may be added)Toolbox of qualitative techniques adaptable to each site and shared between sites

Resilience is…

Resilience is both an individual’s capacity to navigate to health resources and a condition of the individual’s family, community and culture to provide these resources in culturally meaningful ways.

Resilience as Navigation

Resilience is the process of navigation towards what youth need to survive and thrive

Resilience as Negotiation

Resilience is the process of negotiation for resources with those who control them

Unpacking the definition

Resilience is a description of an individual’s capacity to successfully navigate and negotiate in culturally and contextually relevant waysIt is also a description of how a community’s social ecology meets an individual’s needs

So…

Across cultures and contexts…how similar and how different are young people’s patterns of navigation and negotiation?

Nor t her n C an ada

2. 5

2. 6

2. 7

2. 8

2. 9

3

3. 1

3. 2

3. 3

3. 4

3. 5

Site Mean Total Mean

C Y R M

Souther n C anada

2.5

2.6

2.7

2.8

2.9

3

3.1

3.2

3.3

3.4

3.5

Site Mean Total Mean

C Y R M

S out her n U S A

2. 5

2. 6

2. 7

2. 8

2. 9

3

3. 1

3. 2

3. 3

3. 4

3. 5

Site Mean Total Mean

C Y R M

C ol umbi a

2. 5

2. 6

2. 7

2. 8

2. 9

3

3. 1

3. 2

3. 3

3. 4

3. 5

Site Mean Total Mean

C Y R M

G ambi a

2. 5

2. 6

2. 7

2. 8

2. 9

3

3. 1

3. 2

3. 3

3. 4

3. 5

Site Mean Total Mean

C Y R M

Russia

2. 5

2. 6

2. 7

2. 8

2. 9

3

3. 1

3. 2

3. 3

3. 4

3. 5

Site Mean Total Mean

C Y R M

P al es ti ne

2. 5

2. 6

2. 7

2. 8

2. 9

3

3. 1

3. 2

3. 3

3. 4

3. 5

Site Mean Total Mean

C Y R M

T an zan ia

2. 5

2. 6

2. 7

2. 8

2. 9

3

3. 1

3. 2

3. 3

3. 4

3. 5

Site Mean Total Mean

C Y R M

South A f r i c a

2. 5

2. 6

2. 7

2. 8

2. 9

3

3. 1

3. 2

3. 3

3. 4

3. 5

Site Mean Total Mean

C Y R M

I n dia

2. 5

2. 6

2. 7

2. 8

2. 9

3

3. 1

3. 2

3. 3

3. 4

3. 5

S ite M ean T otal M ean

C Y R M

C hi na

2. 5

2. 6

2. 7

2. 8

2. 9

3

3. 1

3. 2

3. 3

3. 4

3. 5

S ite M ean T otal M ean

C Y R M

CYRM Means by Site and Total Sample (Mean 3.35 on a 5-point Scale, *p<0.05)

Southern Canada 3.30

Sheshatshiu 2.76*

United States 3.68*

Colombia 3.23 Gambia

3.62*

South Africa 3.34

Russia 3.44*

Israel 3.39Palestine 3.30

India 3.36

China 3.35

Tanzania 3.31

Israel

2.5

2.6

2.7

2.8

2.9

3

3.1

3.2

3.3

3.4

3.5

Site Mean Total Mean

CYRM

LESSON ONE:

There are both global and culturally and contextually specific aspects to young people’s lives that contribute to their resilience.

BUT. . .

How aspects of resilience manifest themselves in young people’s lives depends on the specific culture and context in which resilience is realized.

(What has been our experience?)

Nested Ecological Model

Minority World(Western)MODEL 1

Majority World(Non-Western)

GirlsMODEL 2

Boys

High Social CohesionMODEL 3

Low Social CohesionMODEL 4

 

Progression of the Factor Analysis

LESSON TWO:

Aspects of children’s lives that contribute to resilience are related to one another in patterns that reflect a child’s culture and context.

BUT. . .

How do we make sense of these culturally and contextually specific patterns?

LESSON THREE:

Youth seek resilience by resolving all seven tensions in ways that fit with their culture and context

Three Lessons

Resilience has both global and culturally-specific aspectsAspects of children’s lives that contribute to resilience are related to one another in patterns that reflect a child’s culture and contextResilient youth resolve the seven tensions in ways that fit with their culture and context

Implications:

Children’s navigations for health resources and…Children’s negotiations for what they need from health care providers and caregivers…To nurture and sustain resilience…Are influenced by the child’s culture and context

Implication #1

‘Don’t believe everything you read’Local knowledge may be the same or different from global concepts about resilience‘Ask more, tell less’A game of “Mirrors”Example: The Innu child and her definition of education

Implication #2

‘All aspects of resilience are not created equal’

Context determines influenceInterventions need to be sensitive to which aspect of resilience, in a specific context, will have the greatest impact on a particular group of children or familiesThe $1,000,000 question: Akili vs. Sasha

Implication #3

‘Pathways to resilience are many and splendoured things’

Interventions must address (in one way or another) all seven tensionsExample: An Iranian immigrant