Community Planning to Foster Resilience in Children PDF
Preview Community Planning to Foster Resilience in Children
Community Planning to Foster Resilience in Children Community Planning to Foster Resilience in Children Edited by s. Caroline Clauss-Ehlers Graduate School of Education Rutgers. The State University of New Jersey New Brunswick. New Jersey and Mark D. Weist University of Maryland School of Medicine Baltimore. Maryland Springer Science+Business Media, LLC New York, Boston, Dordrecht, London, Moscow Library of Congress Calaloging-in-Publieation Data Community planning to foster resilienee in ehildren 1 edited by Caroline S. Clauss-Ehlers and Mark D. Weist. p.em. Includes bibliographical referenees and index. I. Child psychiatry. 2. Community mental health services for children. 1. Clauss-Ehlers, Caroline S. 11. Weist, Mark D. RJ499.C597 2004 362.2'2-dc22 2004047310 ISBN 978-1-4757-0981-0 ISBN 978-0-306-48544-2 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-0-306-48544-2 © 2004 by Springer Science+Business Media New Y ork Originally published by Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York in 2004 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1s t edition 2004 233 Spring Street, New York, New York 10013 http://www.kluweronline.eom 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 A c.I.P. record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. All rights reserved No part of this work rnay be reprodueed, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, eleetronie, meehanieal, photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any mateIial supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser 01' the work. Permissions for books published in Europe: [email protected] Permissions for books published in the United States of AmeIica: [email protected] To my dear husband, Julian, whose love, wisdom, and tenderness inspire resilience every day, and to OUf darling daughter, Isabel Seay, whose being was just a conversation as this project was planned and whose birth has touched OUf lives with awe and wonder ("CC"). To my father, Robert, the most resilient person I have ever known (MDW). Contributors Olga Acosta, DC Department of Mental Health, Washington, DC Adeyinka M. Akinsulure-Smith, BellevueINYU Program for Survivors of Torture, New York, NY; Nah We Yone, Inc., New York, NY Edith G. Arrington, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA Jennifer Axelrod, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL Jason Barry, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY Paul J. Brounstein, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Rockville, MD Tanya N. Bryant, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD Robert Burke, Ball State University, Muncie, IN Joanne Cashman, National Association of State Directors of Special Education, Alexandria, VA Caroline S. Clauss-Ehlers, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ Wendi Cross, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY CharIes G. Curie, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Rockville, MD Nancy J. Davis, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Rockville, MD Richard De Lisi, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ vii viii Contributors Steven W. Evans, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA Michael E. Faran, Tripier Army Medical Center, Honolulu, HI Diane A. Faran, Hanahau'oli School, Honolulu, HI James Garbarino, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY Alina Camacho-Gingerich, St. John's University, Jamaica, NY Isabelle M. Gremy, Observatoire regional de sante d'Ile-de-France, Paris, France Alvin Hathaway, Pennsylvania AME Zion Church Sylvia S. Huntley, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD Rafael Art. Javier, St. John's University, Jamaica, NY Kimberly T. Kendziora, American Institutes for Research, Washington, DC James Koller, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO Teresa LaFromboise, Stanford University, Stanford, CA R. Dwayne LaGrange, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD Jeannette M. Maluf, New York University Medical Center, New York, NY Stephen Mathur, Columbia University, New York, NY Lisa Medoff, Stanford University, Stanford, CA Mickey C. Melendez, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ Elizabeth Moore, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD Stephen M. Morris, Child Tripier Army Medical Center, Honolulu, HI Edwin Morris, Missouri Department of Mental Health, Jefferson City, MO Elizabeth Mullett, NYU Child Study Center, New York, NY Carolyn Moore Newberger, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA David M. Osher, American Institutes for Research, Washington, DC Celeste C. Owens, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD Carl Paternite, Miami University of Ohio, Oxford, OH Kay Rietz, Ohio Department of Mental Health, Columbus, OH Tom Sioane, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD Contributors ix Hawthorne E. Smith, BellevuelNYU Program for Survivors of Torture, New York, NY; Nah We Yone, Ine., New York, NY Sharon Hoover Stephan, University ofMaryland Sehool ofMedieine, Baltimore, MD Saundra Tomlinson-Clarke, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswiek, NJ R. Fox Vernon, Rutgers, The State University ofNew Jersey, New Brunswiek, NJ Mark D. Weist, University ofMaryland Sehool ofMedieine, Baltimore, MD Melvin N. Wilson, University ofVirginia, Charlottesville, VA Grace Wong, South Beaeh Psychiatrie Center, Staten Island, NY Peter A. Wyman, University of Rochester Sehool of Medieine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY Foreword The Essential Quality of Resilience The emergence of resilience as a central concept in discussions of child and ado lescent development is encouraging to anyone who approaches the developmental issues of children and youth from an ecological perspective. Such a perspective requires that we acknowledge the central importance of context in an its cultural, social, historical, psychological, and biological dimensions. From an ecological perspective, the question, Does X cause Y? must be answered, It depends. For example, it depends on the context of those specific X and Y factors. Does the presence of a particular risk factor predict the likelihood of de velopmental harm? From an ecological perspective, it depends on several im portant factors. The first is the overall accumulation of risk in the individual's life. Sammeroff's c1assic research demonstrated this with respect to the factors of poverty, parental absence, parental mental illness, large family size, parental sub stance abuse, parentallow-educational attainment, rigid or punitive child-rearing style, and exposure to racism. This work demonstrates the critical importance 01' asking, Is this the first or the fourth risk factor? If it is the first, significant devel opmental damage for the average biological organism (i.e., child or adolescent) is unlikely; however, if a particular risk is fourth, damage to the average organism (even to most organisms) is likely. Several studies I point to other elements of the context (e.g., neighborhood) as potential sites for risk accumulation. Why? Because human beings are not fragile-we can deal with adversity. If we were so delicate, the human species would have died out a long time ago. Research such as Sammeroff's supports this fact; however, this focus on human resistance to social risks is not enough. Beyond the accumulation of risk at the social and psychological level are the risk factors within the organism-that is, the factors that create average and superior and risky individuals. Calculations of organismic risk amplify the impact J e.g. Hampton, el al.. communily-Bronfenbrenner. 1975, sociely-Elder. 1974, culture-e.g. Rohner, 1975 xi xii Foreword of social and psychological risks. For example, research conducted by Caspi and his colleagues revealed that being an abused child does not automatically translate into subsequent problems with aggression and criminal behavior. Rather, the risk factors require that the organismic risk of deficient social information processing be linked to genetically-based neurotransmitter problems to produce the negative effects. Although it is important to catalog risk factors, mapping developmental as sets is also necessary, both for intellectual and moral reasons. If the prediction of outcomes is to proceed effectively and the intellectual imperative is to improve the variance accounted for, the developmental equation must include assessments of positive influences in conjunction with the negative. Adding social and psycho logical risks to organismic risks requires the addition of assets to accomplish this scientific goal. The moral imperative is to alert parents, educators, social workers, mental health professionals, and policy makers to the reality that it is possible to counterbalance risk accumulation with asset accumulation-that human beings individually and collectively are not passive victims of risk accumulation, but can resist harm themselves and receive assistance from others. And this, I think, is why the theme of resilience is important both intellectually and morally. Intellectually, it ofters a way of summarizing the reality that humans are not fragile beings. We are, to a greater or lesser degree, resilient. The more internal and external assets we possess, the more able we are to handle and even transcend risk factors in the environment-and even in ourselves. A simplistic approach to resilience, however, is dangerous. Relying on re silience as a concept out of social context can become a recipe for rationalizing social deprivation and inequities. For example, relying solelyon resilience, policy makers and the general public might conclude that worrying about poverty and abuse is unnecessary because kids are resilient. In a judgmental society like ours, however, it can lead to a form of blaming the victim (e.g., What's wrong with this child that he or she is not resilient?). And it can obscure real costs to peo ple's sense of well-being and meaningfulness-Who cares how they feel about themselves and their joy in living? They are competent and prosocial. If we are cognizant of these dangers and vigilant in opposing them in profes sional and public discussions, however, we can make effective use of resilience as a foundation for action on behalf of children. The chapters of this book succeed in doing so, with their special focus on the schools and community as a context tor de velopment and intervention. Whether it is children from diverse communities who deal with the nexus of poverty, racism, and violence, or those in military families struggling with the sources of instability in their lives, or children facing men tal health problems, the authors offer well-grounded analyses and programmatic efforts to nurture resilience and defeat risks. The authors keep faith with a complete concept of resilience in context. They refuse to accept simplistic answers to the questions of what happens and Foreword xiii what works. By ilIuminating the complex and often subtle interplay of biologieal, psychologieal, social, and cultural forces in the lives of children and youth, they advance the field toward a more mature understanding of human strength and vulnerability. JAMES GARBARINO Elizabeth Lee Vincent Professor of Human Development -Cornell University
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