Coping strategies of street-involved youth

Exploring contexts of resilience

Bibliographic Data

ID12600535
AuthorsKat Kolar (0000-0002-5252-2359, University of Toronto, corresponding author), Patricia Gail Erickson, Donna E Stewart (0000-0002-8157-7746, University of Toronto), Donna Stewart
Year2012
Volume15
Issue6
Pages744-760
Publication date2012-05-11
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Youth Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1367-6261 • E-ISSN: 1469-9680
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13676261.2012.677814
OpenAlexW2120109922
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited45

Literature on how street-involved youth (SIY) cope with risky environments remains very limited. This exploratory study investigates SIY's coping strategies, employing the ‘contexts of resilience’ framework (where resilience is understood as a process that changes over time and by environment) to situate an inductive thematic analysis of interviews with 10 current and former SIY. Three themes are explored: social distancing; experiences of violence; and self-harm and suicidality. The first two themes illustrate the double-edged nature of some coping strategies. While social distancing could contribute to isolation from social supports and violent self-defense to retaliatory harm, without alternative resources to prevent victimization these strategies must be acknowledged as reasoned responses to the risks associated with a violent milieu. Strategies assumed to be maladaptive among more normative youth may be among the limited resources available for SIY to utilize in attempts to make positive changes in their lives. The final theme explores self-harm and suicidality as indicative of social and structural needs and shows how in the SIY context such behaviors may not signify an outcome of non-resilience. The adaptation of assessments of coping strategies to be congruent with evaluative contexts should be applied to resilience research addressing other marginalized populations

Coping (psychology · Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 · Criminology · Distancing · Harm · Normative · Political science · Psychological resilience · Qualitative research · Sociology · Thematic analysis · Clinical Psychology · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Homelessness and Social Issues · Medicine · Psychology · Social Psychology · Suicide and Self-Harm Studies

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