Resilience as protagonism

Interpersonal relationships, cultural practices, and personal agency among working adolescents in Brazil

Bibliographic Data

ID12600232
AuthorsRenata Maria Coimbra Liborio (Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp), corresponding author), M Ungar (0000-0003-0431-347X, Dalhousie University)
Year2013
Volume17
Issue5
Pages682-696
Publication date2013-09-09
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Youth Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1367-6261 • E-ISSN: 1469-9680
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13676261.2013.834313
OpenAlexW1987401096
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited11

A visual methods study was conducted with 16 at-risk youth living in a mid-sized Brazilian city. In this study, we focus on data obtained from four of those youth who were working adolescents, aged 13–15, and identify contextually specific protective processes associated with resilience. Through a reciprocal process of collaborative research that included observation, photo elicitation, video recording of a ‘day in the life’ of each youth, and semi-structured interviews, youth and researchers co-constructed an understanding of adaptive coping in a particularly challenging social environment. By employing techniques from grounded theory to analyze the data, we identified a pattern of protagonism among these youth that enabled them to maintain well-being despite exploitation as working children. This conceptualization of protagonism as a protective process has implications for human service workers who intervene to improve the living conditions of working children

Agency (philosophy · Conceptualization · Coping (psychology · Developmental psychology · Focus group · Grounded theory · Interpersonal communication · Positive Youth Development · Psychological resilience · Qualitative research · Sociology · Children's Rights and Participation · Clinical Psychology · Community Health and Development · Psychology · Resilience and Mental Health · Social Psychology