More than two decades after Michael Rutter (1987) published his summary of protective processes associated with resilience, researchers continue to report definitional ambiguity in how to define and operationalize positive development under adversity. The problem has been partially the result of a dominant view of resilience as something individuals have, rather than as a process that families, schools,communities and governments facilitate. Because resilience is related to the presence of social risk factors, there is a need for an ecological interpretation of the construct that acknowledges the importance of people's interactions with their environments. The Social Ecology of Resilience provides evidence for this ecological understanding of resilience in ways that help to resolve both definition and measurement problems.

Until researchers and theorists account for the complex relationship between resilience and culture, explanations of why some individuals prevail in the face of adversity will remain incomplete. This edited volume addresses this crucial issue by bringing together emerging discussions of the ways in which culture shapes resilience, the theory that informs these various studies, and important considerations for researchers as they continue to investigate resilience. Using research from majority and minority world contexts, 'Youth Resilience and Culture: Commonalities and Complexities' highlights that non-stereotypical, critical appreciation of the cultural systems in which youth are embedded, and/or affiliate with, is pivotal to understanding why particular resilience processes matter for particular youth in a particular life-world at a particular point in time. In doing so, this book sensitizes readers to the importance of accounting for the influence of cultural contexts on resilience processes, and to the danger of conceptualising and/or operationalising resilience, culture, and their interplay, simplistically or idealistically. In short, the progressive contents of 'Youth Resilience and Culture: Commonalities and Complexities' make it an essential read for resilience-focused scholars, students, academics, and researchers, as well as policy makers, practitioners, and humanitarian workers engaged with high-risk populations.

This new edition of Working with Children and Youth with Complex Needs provides detailed descriptions of techniques, ample case studies, fascinating and easy to understand explanations of research, and rich stories of how social workers, psychologists, counselors, child and youth care workers, and other mental health professionals can help young people become more resilient. Fully updated and including new discussions of trauma, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), resilience, genetic susceptibility to stress, the impact of migration and natural disasters on families, and much more, Dr. Ungar shows why we need to work just as hard changing the environments that surround children as we do changing children themselves. Building on lessons learned from clinical, community and residential settings, Dr. Ungar discusses a shortlist of 20 essential skills that can enhance the effectiveness of frontline mental health services without relying on expensive, resource heavy programs. Along with descriptions of the skills necessary to talk with clients about the factors that put their mental health at risk, Working with Children and Youth with Complex Needs presents systemic practices clinicians can use in their everyday work to help their clients transform their worlds and improve their access to the resources they need to succeed. Chapters present a variety of practical strategies that clinicians can use to enhance and sustain the therapeutic value of their work, including engaging with children's extended family; addressing issues of community violence, racism and homophobia; and helping parents and teachers understand (and change) children's maladaptive coping strategies. A series of videos accompanies the text to help readers see the skills that are discussed being applied to real-life situations mental health professionals and their community allies encounter.

`An eye-opening and heart-opening book.' -Bonnie Benard, Senior Program Associate, WestEd Identify and promote overlooked strengths to cultivate resilience. Now more than ever, counselors, teachers, community youth workers, and parents are striving to prevent individual and school-wide tragedy before it happens. Critical to the success of their efforts is a deep respect for the adolescent experience. In this book, author and social worker Michael Ungar takes a fresh, hopeful approach to challenging youth by looking beyond the surface of "bad" behaviors to understand them as ways of coping with life's adversities. Strengths-Based Counseling With At-Risk Youth provides the tools both to understand and access strengths buried beneath problem behaviors. It offers specific, effective strategies in working with adolescents to construct positive identities and realistic action plans. Features include Six strategies for youth engagement, covering common problem behaviors such as drug use, violence, delinquency, and promiscuity An entire chapter on bullying An abundance of real-life examples and counseling narratives A Resilient Youth Strengths Inventory to assess resilience and identify areas that need strengthening Sincere application of Ungar's compassionate and open-minded strategies is sure to transform the lives of countless adolescents in need, and the institutions that serve them.

Processes of post-war reconstruction, peacebuilding and reconciliation are partly about fostering stability and adaptive capacity across different social systems. Nevertheless, these processes have seldom been expressly discussed within a resilience framework. Similarly, although the goals of transitional justice - among them (re)establishing the rule of law, delivering justice and aiding reconciliation - implicitly encompass a resilience element, transitional justice has not been explicitly theorised as a process for building resilience in communities and societies that have suffered large-scale violence and human rights violations. The chapters in this unique volume theoretically and empirically explore the concept of resilience in diverse societies that have experienced mass violence and human rights abuses. They analyse the extent to which transitional justice processes have - and can - contribute to resilience and how, in so doing, they can foster adaptive peacebuilding. This book is available as Open Access.

This new edition of Working with Children and Youth with Complex Needs provides detailed descriptions of techniques, ample case studies, fascinating and easy to understand explanations of research, and rich stories of how social workers, psychologists, counselors, child and youth care workers, and other mental health professionals can help young people become more resilient. Fully updated and including new discussions of trauma, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), resilience, genetic susceptibility to stress, the impact of migration and natural disasters on families, and much more, Dr. Ungar shows why we need to work just as hard changing the environments that surround children as we do changing children themselves. Building on lessons learned from clinical, community and residential settings, Dr. Ungar discusses a shortlist of 20 essential skills that can enhance the effectiveness of frontline mental health services without relying on expensive, resource heavy programs. Along with descriptions of the skills necessary to talk with clients about the factors that put their mental health at risk, Working with Children and Youth with Complex Needs presents systemic practices clinicians can use in their everyday work to help their clients transform their worlds and improve their access to the resources they need to succeed. Chapters present a variety of practical strategies that clinicians can use to enhance and sustain the therapeutic value of their work, including engaging with children's extended family; addressing issues of community violence, racism and homophobia; and helping parents and teachers understand (and change) children's maladaptive coping strategies. A series of videos accompanies the text to help readers see the skills that are discussed being applied to real-life situations mental health professionals and their community allies encounter.

Until researchers and theorists account for the complex relationship between resilience and culture, explanations of why some individuals prevail in the face of adversity will remain incomplete. This edited volume addresses this crucial issue by bringing together emerging discussions of the ways in which culture shapes resilience, the theory that informs these various studies, and important considerations for researchers as they continue to investigate resilience. Using research from majority and minority world contexts, 'Youth Resilience and Culture: Commonalities and Complexities' highlights that non-stereotypical, critical appreciation of the cultural systems in which youth are embedded, and/or affiliate with, is pivotal to understanding why particular resilience processes matter for particular youth in a particular life-world at a particular point in time. In doing so, this book sensitizes readers to the importance of accounting for the influence of cultural contexts on resilience processes, and to the danger of conceptualising and/or operationalising resilience, culture, and their interplay, simplistically or idealistically. In short, the progressive contents of 'Youth Resilience and Culture: Commonalities and Complexities' make it an essential read for resilience-focused scholars, students, academics, and researchers, as well as policy makers, practitioners, and humanitarian workers engaged with high-risk populations.

"To study resilience one should adopt a fundamental humility about oneself and one's culture and society and simultaneously a respect for the human strength of others. The chapters in this book take these three cautions seriously, and offer a convincing demonstration that resilience is indeed a many-splendored thing." --James Garbarino, Cornell University The Handbook For Working With Children and Youth: Pathways To Resilience Across Cultures and Contexts examines lives lived well despite adversity. Calling upon some of the most progressive thinkers in the field, it presents a groundbreaking collection of original writing on the theories, methods of study, and interventions that promote resilience. Unlike other works that have left largely unquestioned their own culture-bound interpretations of the ways children and youth survive and thrive, this volume explores the multiple paths children follow to health and well-being in diverse national and international settings. It demonstrates the connection between social and political health resources and addresses the more immediate concerns of how those who care for children create the physical, emotional, and spiritual environments in which resilience is nurtured. Key Features Cross-cultural. Illustrates the rich variety of culturally embedded pathways by which children navigate toward health and well-being Multidisciplinary. Draws upon international experts utilizing both quantitative and qualitative studies from psychology, social work, psychiatry, nursing, education, criminology, child and youth care, community health, and family therapy Comprehensive. Provides broad developmental perspectives on resilience, from theory and research methods to interventions with individuals, families, and communities Connects theory to practice. Clarifies the construct of resilience from the viewpoint of resilience researchers and practitioners in health-related disciplines from different methodological paradigms within the social sciences and human services Academics, graduate students, and professionals studying or working in human service fields such as human development and family studies, education, social work, child and youth care work, developmental psychology/applied developmental science, child psychiatry, nursing, and family therapy will benefit from this Handbook. In essence, anyone who works with youth or is interested in the developmental issues related to children and youth in clinical, residential, or community settings will find Ungar's Handbook to be of great value.

Multisystemic Resilience brings together for the first time in one volume a wide range of resilience scholars who have been wrestling with how to explain processes of recovery, adaptation, and transformation in contexts of change and adversity. With contributions from psychologists, epigeneticists, ecologists, architects, disaster specialists, engineers, sociologists, social workers, and public health researchers among others, this innovative volume creates a platform for an interdisciplinary conversation about how to effectively research resilience across systems. Even more, it explores how to identify possible solutions to problems that threaten the physical and mental health of individuals, the wellbeing of our communities, and the sustainability of our planet. Every chapter provides a detailed review of systemic resilience from one disciplinary perspective, drawing from cutting edge research and case studies. Together these chapters show that considering the resilience of multiple systems at once is instrumental to understanding the processes of change and sustainability.

Michael Ungar's "Nurturing Hidden Resilience in Troubled Youth" is the first text in its field to examine resilience as a social construct; it offers a comprehensive theory of resilience and a model for the application of this theory to direct practice with high-risk youth in clinical, residential, and community settings.

Ungar's analysis of resilience and approach to intervention focuses on the unique group of youth who are labeled dangerous, deviant, delinquent, and disordered. He explores how these youth discover and maintain well-being through discursive empowerment: using detailed case studies, Ungar finds that high-risk youth explain their problematic behaviours, such as gang affiliations and drug and alcohol use, as strategic ways to compose healthy stories about themselves that bring them experiences of control and acceptance. Unlike most extant literature on risk and resiliency, Ungar's text provides a novel and fresh approach to the resiliency construct and, perhaps more importantly, gives voice to the adolescents themselves.

Timely in subject and original in perspective, "Nurturing Hidden Resilience in Troubled Youth" challenges what popular media refer to as a 'youth problem.' Ungar offers an alternative approach to troubled youth and suggests that we build upon, rather than resist, their constructions of resilience as a method of effective intervention.

Mental health specialists and researchers contend that the development of resilience in youth is facilitated at several levels. Relational, cultural, individual, and governmental factors all have a strong influence over the mental well being of young people. Resilience in Action looks at youth interventions with a view to fostering resilience in those living in adverse situations and conditions.

In order to provide a practical approach to the issue, the essays in this volume explore the components of successful interventions, encouraging the transmission of effective practices from one community to another across borders. It is organized into four sections, each dealing with a different aspect of work with at-risk youth. The first section focuses on individual health and the ways in which intervention and therapy strengthen personal resources. The second section explores the dynamics of interventions in relation to specific contexts and localized relationships, emphasizing holistic approaches to youth work. A review of the cultural relevance of resilience follows in section three, and the fourth considers ways of increasing the accessibility to resources that encourage healthy development.

Featuring contributors from a variety of academic and cultural backgrounds, Resilience in Action offers diverse answers to many of the persistent questions mental health professionals ask regarding how to enhance resilience.

`An eye-opening and heart-opening book.' -Bonnie Benard, Senior Program Associate, WestEd Identify and promote overlooked strengths to cultivate resilience. Now more than ever, counselors, teachers, community youth workers, and parents are striving to prevent individual and school-wide tragedy before it happens. Critical to the success of their efforts is a deep respect for the adolescent experience. In this book, author and social worker Michael Ungar takes a fresh, hopeful approach to challenging youth by looking beyond the surface of "bad" behaviors to understand them as ways of coping with life's adversities. Strengths-Based Counseling With At-Risk Youth provides the tools both to understand and access strengths buried beneath problem behaviors. It offers specific, effective strategies in working with adolescents to construct positive identities and realistic action plans. Features include Six strategies for youth engagement, covering common problem behaviors such as drug use, violence, delinquency, and promiscuity An entire chapter on bullying An abundance of real-life examples and counseling narratives A Resilient Youth Strengths Inventory to assess resilience and identify areas that need strengthening Sincere application of Ungar's compassionate and open-minded strategies is sure to transform the lives of countless adolescents in need, and the institutions that serve them.

Michael Ungar's Nurturing Hidden Resilience in Troubled Youth is the first text in its field to examine resilience as a social construct; it offers a comprehensive theory of resilience and a model for the application of this theory to direct practice with high-risk youth in clinical, residential, and community settings. Ungar's analysis of resilience and approach to intervention focuses on the unique group of youth who are labelled dangerous, deviant, delinquent, and disordered. He explores how these youth discover and maintain well-being through discursive empowerment: using detailed case studies, Ungar finds that high-risk youth explain their problematic behaviours, such as gang affiliations and drug and alcohol use, as strategic ways to compose healthy stories about themselves that bring them experiences of control and acceptance. Unlike most extant literature on risk and resiliency, Ungar's text provides a novel and fresh approach to the resiliency construct and, perhaps more importantly, gives voice to the adolescents themselves. Timely in subject and original in perspective, Nurturing Hidden Resilience in Troubled Youth challenges what popular media refer to as a 'youth problem.' Ungar offers an alternative approach to troubled youth and suggests that we build upon, rather than resist, their constructions of resilience as a method of effective intervention.