Championing the resilience of sub-Saharan adolescents

Pointers for psychologists

Dados Bibliográficos

ID11011309
AutoresL Theron (0000-0002-3979-5782, University of Pretoria, autor correspondente)
Ano2019
Volume49
Fascículo3
Páginas325-336
Data de publicação2019-09-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoSouth African Journal of Psychology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0081-2463 • E-ISSN: 2078-208X
EditoraSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0081246318801749
OpenAlexW2895758604
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas16
Referências citadas71

In this article, I argue that an ecological systems approach to resilience – specifically, one that is sensitive to how contextual determinants shape successful adaptation differentially – offers a meaningful way to enable sub-Saharan adolescents to adapt well to the apparently intractable risks to their health and well-being. Accordingly, I draw on studies of child and adolescent resilience from sub-Saharan Africa and the global North to show that the resilience field has largely moved beyond individual-focused theories of resilience that have the (long-term) potential to jeopardize adolescent health and well-being and advance neoliberal agendas. I emphasize that the recent attention to differentially impactful resilience-enablers casts suspicion on incautious application of universally recurring resilience-enablers. Allied to this, I problematize the delay in the identification of resources that impact the resilience of sub-Saharan adolescents differentially. Finally, I distil implications for resilience-directed praxis and research that have the potential to advance the championship of adolescent resilience in sub-Saharan Africa

Adaptation (eye) · Developmental psychology · Identification (biology) · Political science · Praxis · Psychological resilience · Resilience (materials science) · Ecology · Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare · Psychology · Resilience and Mental Health · Social Psychology · Youth Development and Social Support