Resilience in social psychology

  • Jul 26, 2021
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Resilience in social psychology

Our knowledge throughout history makes us know of the capabilities that human beings have to overcome the damages in general and therefore know the capacities that he has developed this.

The expression of this potential has generated both physical and material, cultural, intellectual and technological goods, this is going away giving by successive accumulation in each one of the cultures, thus developing what will be our subject of interest and study: LA RESILIENCE.

In the following PsychologyOnline article, we will use our particular lens to talk about Resilience in social psychology.

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Index

  1. Introduction
  2. Background and definition
  3. Building resilience
  4. Building resilience
  5. Development conditions
  6. Physical abuse and resilience factors
  7. Resilience strategies
  8. Resilience intervention in children
  9. Conclusions

Introduction.

In the present work, some background information, the definition, the promotion of resilience in society as well as its development are presented. in people who are susceptible to abuse, development conditions and factors that help us build resilience, but also it is important to maintain it and for this the topic of strategies to build and maintain resilience will be touched and last but not least

intervention and development of resilience in children.

It must be taken for granted that resilience not only helps us to be able to solve problems and live well, it has an even broader meaning with a different perspective on life.

Throughout this work, some examples of resilience in difficult situations such as Hurricane Katrina and Rita and the way people manage to overcome, cope or create a barrier that makes them feel protected from unpleasant events.

The objective of this work is to present some of the aspects of greatest interest for the reaction of get over difficult situations. In order to understand the phenomenon of resilience, it is necessary to have a clear and defined concept, which is why we will begin our first section with this topic.

Background and definition.

Before we fully address the issue of resilience, we have to know some background of it, for example, in the Bible, Job overcomes the loss of all Her material goods, for example, the young Anne Frank, manages to continue her development as an adolescent during the Nazi war until she is assassinated (Ángeles y Morales 1995).

In the middle of the last century, the human sciences began to use the term to refer to the guidelines that allow people to overcome and take advantage of adverse situations (Sánchez, 2003).

Rutter's findings in 1990 have uncovered brain development and function based on the biological bases of the phenomenon of resilience, as well as its contribution to psychophysiological development processes. It is understood that resilience is not something that is acquired or not acquired, but that it leads to behaviors that anyone can develop and learn.

Resilience as a concept is a term that comes from physics and refers to the ability of a material to regain its shape after being subjected to high pressure (López, 1996). Therefore in the social sciences we can deduce that a person is resilient when he manages to stand out from pressures and difficulties that another person could not develop in his place.

The introduction to the concept of resilience in the social sciences has opened new paths for us to be able to face the most common problems such as those provided by learning and development childish.

There are various definitions of the term resilience, these depend on each author and his theoretical approach, resilience would be a global capacity of the person to maintain effective functioning in the face of adversities in the environment or to recover it in other conditions (Aracena, Castillo and Roman).

On the other hand, resilience would describe a good adaptation in the tasks of social development of a person as a result of the subject's interaction with her environment. For Domínguez, (2005), resilience is the process of adapting well to adverse situations or even to significant sources such as stress.

It means bounce off difficult experiences. It must be taken into account that resilience is not something that is adopted or not, but rather that each individual develops it according to their needs. The concept of resilience or the ability to recover implies two factors: resilience against destruction, that is, the ability to protect one's own life and integrity in the face of deforming pressures and the other is the ability to build positive vital behaviors this despite difficult circumstances (González ,2005).

Resilience in social psychology - Background and definition

Building resilience.

Resilience could be defined as something new in history. The introduction to the concept of resilience in the social sciences has opened new ways to be able to face the most common problems such as those that provide us with learning and child development.

Invest in resilience It would be much cheaper and it would surely be achieved in the medium term the reduction of some adverse effects such as crime, prostitution, violence, drug addiction, (Ángeles, R. and Morales, J. 1995) but there is a great doubt in the air where there is social justice and human development for each one as individual, not a more generalized one that usually makes people lose the security of who they are and what they are worth.

Resilience tells us, the need to focus our search on personal resources and environmental conditions available to individuals, their families and the community. And it changes, from an intervention in the direct beneficiary to an intervention that incorporates the family and the community throughout the process of change. Educational activities are incorporated that address the different dimensions of resilience. (González, 2005).

Actions should be promoted to favor social inclusion of resilience, in order for vitality, capacity and energy to be used to actively participate in the present and build a life project with the support, we have to consider actions and characteristics that promote resilience and that this issue should be a priority not only for health professionals but for all those who are in direct contact with children and adolescents.

East defensive mechanism As Kolb (1973) mentions, it produces a deep-seated opposition to repressed (unconscious) data becoming conscious. Through resistance, the individual tries to avoid memories and insights that would cause distress and be painful, if faced consciously.

Resistance also occurs during psychoanalytic treatment, when the psychiatrist encourages the patient to make the material repressed by free association perceptible.

Freud structured his concept of repression by encountering difficulties and obstructions in association free: the block, the confusion, the silences and the anguish of the patient to whom he gave the name of resistance. This gives a clue to the nature of the repressed material.

Development of resilience.

Resilience is not a trait that people have or do not have. It involves behaviors, thoughts and actions that anyone can learn and develop. It is a new look at the way in which different human beings face possible causes of stress: bad conditions and humiliations in the family, imprisonment in prison camps, crisis situations such as those caused by widowhood or divorce, large economic or other losses. (García, Rodríguez and Zamora).

Instead of asking oneself about the causes of the physical or spiritual pathology that these catastrophes generate, the new point of view involves investigating what conditions this minority is endowed with; why and in what way it manages to escape the evils of the so-called "Risk groups".

The fact that adversity does not irrevocably result in damaged individuals, it has been shown that their conformation depends, not simply on conditioning factors such as, for example, economic resources, food, the educational level of the parents, maternal stimulation or the availability of playful material, but, fundamentally, of the mechanisms and dynamics that order the way in which they relate (Rutter 1985).

“Resilient” individuals stand out for having a high level of competence in different areas, be it intellectual, emotional, good fighting styles, self-suggested achievement motivation, high self-esteem, feelings of hope, autonomy and independence, among others. And this could have been the case even when the affected area is as basic to life as nutrition. To clarify the phenomenon of resilience, scholars have pointed to the characteristics of the environment in which resilient subjects have developed: they have been young when an event occurred traumatic; They have come from families led by competent parents, integrated into supportive social networks, which have provided them with warm relationships.

With respect to psychological functioning that protects resilient people from stress, we will point out:

  1. Higher IQ and better problem solving skills.
  2. Top coping styles.
  3. Empathy, knowledge and proper handling of relationships.
  4. Sense of humor positive.

What causes an individual to develop the ability to be resilient It is the formation of socially competent people who have the ability to have their own and useful identity, who know how to make decisions, setting goals and this involves social places that involve the family, friends and the government institutions of each country (Ramírez, 1995).

Among the protective mechanisms par excellence is the relationship of a significant adult, who reaffirms trust in himself of the individual, that motivates him, and above all shows him his unconditional affection and acceptance (Sánchez ,2003).

Development conditions.

Many studies show that a primary factor in resilience is having relationships that offer care and support within and outside the family. Relationships that create support and trust, provide modeling, and offer encouragement and reassurance also contribute to affirming resilience in a person (Domínguez, 2005).

To clarify the phenomenon of resilience, scholars have pointed to the characteristics of the environment in which resilient subjects have developed: they have been young when an event occurred traumatic; they have come from families led by competent parents, integrated into supportive social networks, which have provided them with warm relationships (Kotliarenco, and Pardo).

If we stop to observe the reality in which our young people currently live, we can see how certain conditions negatively influence their development: lack of social support networks to face difficulties, premature incorporation into employment, performance of marginal jobs or contractually precarious, lack of protection of their health and labor rights, prolonged unemployment, school failure and dropouts, drug addiction and alcohol etc. All this translates into low self-esteem, absence of a future project and difficulty in making sense of the present (López, 1996).

Fonagy et al. Pointed out that resilient people presented in their childhood the following attributes:

  1. Highest socioeconomic level.
  2. Absence of organic deficit.
  3. Temperament easy.

As characteristics of the immediate social environment, they point out the following:

  1. Parents perceived as competent.
  2. Best informal support network (friends, family, colleagues).

The presence of loving relationships It is vital to strengthen resilience through common example as the voices say “done and not words. ”Opportunities for participation are meaningful in order to feel important and loved.

Resilience is a characteristic that can be learned as a product of a positive interaction between the personal and environmental component of an individual(Sánchez, 2003). The affective bond that is established in the first years of life is vital for the development of a capable and secure individual in an entity.

Resilience in social psychology - Conditions of development

Physical abuse and resilience factors.

The definition of abuse that is used refers to behaviors that have a potential for harm to an individual (Aracena, Castillo and Román)

The term child maltreatment encompasses a broad range of actions that cause physical, emotional or mental harm in children of any age. However, the type of abuse inflicted varies with the age of the child.
Perhaps the most common type of abuse is neglect, that is, physical or emotional harm from deficiencies in food, clothing, shelter, medical care or education by the parents or guardians. A common form of neglect among children is undernourishment, which leads to poor development and sometimes even death.

The events traumatic or adverse whether psychological or physical (poor nutrition, permanently high levels of stress and violence) raise cortisol levels and in turn this affects the metabolism, the immune system and the brain.

It is especially important that what is described does not occur in children who receive special care, affectionate and enriching in the first year of life, they are less likely to respond to stress by producing other different reactions in children who do not have this care So if a child is neglected or neglected at a very early age, brain functions are severely impaired, such as the ability to learn and solve problems.

There are some factors associated with the development of resilience through which we can support ourselves and be less susceptible to damage caused by the environment in which we live. The combination of these factors leads us to be successful (Domínguez, 2005).

We must have the ability to make realistic plans which we will carry out, have a positive view of yourself and trust your strengths and abilities, dexterity and communication for problem solving, the ability to handle feelings and impulses very powerful. We must associate alternatives to envision hope in situations that we generally associate with an accumulation of deficiencies (González, 2005).

Resilience strategies.

People do not react in the same way to the same life events traumatic and stressful. An approach to building resilience that works for one person may not work for another. People use a wide variety of strategies. Some variations may reflect cultural differences. A person's culture can have an impact on the way they communicate their feelings and deal with adversity.

For example, the impact of Hurricane Katrina and Rita was so enormous that its impact was felt on people of different cultures. The good news about resilience is that it can be built through a variety of approaches that make sense across cultures.

Make connections. Good relationships with family and friends close friends and other relevant people. Some people find that even though they have suffered losses, helping other people makes them feel good about themselves.

Avoid seeing crises as insurmountable problems. it can change the way each individual interprets the “hurricane”. Try to see beyond the current crisis and how future circumstances can be a little better. Moving towards goals makes strategies develop the ability to be successful and be a resilient individual that integrates into a community.

Recognize your own strength and resources for dealing with difficult situations can help build self-confidence. Pay attention to their needs and feelings. Other ways to build resilience can help, the key is to identify ways that might work well as part of a personal strategy to build resilience (Domínguez, 2005).

Working in the field of resilience in an individual implies a paradigm shift in the sense of emphasizing innate strength and seeing things as something positive and not as a total risk things have been created to improve your environment not to harm your health.

A suitable stimulation in the first years of life will have a great benefit for the future since family support and integration make a person develop self-confidence and this in the future will be reflected in the projects and their success or failure (Sánchez, 2003).

Resilience in Social Psychology - Resilience Strategies

Resilience intervention in children.

Resilience is more than resisting shocks, fear of risks, it is taking each adverse circumstance as a challenge that tests all the potential of an individual.

There are three pillars that support resilience capacity:

  1. The ability to play. Do not take things so seriously that fear prevents finding the way out. And in this case, the sense of humor, looking at things as if from the back of a longview, allows one to distance oneself from conflicts. Creativity, the multiplication of personal interests, the games of the imagination relegate those causes of alarm to their rightful place, revitalize it so as not to get depressed.
  2. The ability to face situations with a feeling of hope. And for this it is essential to have at least someone in whom to deposit affection, admiration, which serve as a guide and encouragement. This is what in the common language of resilience groups is known as “getting hooked. Also essential are the so-called “support networks” or containment, links that enrich and prevent the person from feeling in a vital bad weather. Friends, a teacher, a neighborhood community, resilience groups act as permanent support and encouragement.
  3. The self-supporting. It can be summarized as a message that the person elaborates for himself. "I know this is going to happen to me," he says to himself before a bad trance. In other words: "I love myself, I trust myself, I can sustain myself in life."

Attempts to discover the biological support of resilient behaviors are not only interested in their theoretical scope. They are also interesting for their practical implications. Certainly, the determination of the elements, conditions and relationships that participate in the configuration of child development opens new spaces for intervention.

The evidence presented has shown a rather optimistic outlook about it, by realizing that no adverse element is, by itself, a source of deterioration or inevitable damage for the individual and that, in general, adversity can be, if not counteracted, attenuated through the establishment of caring and warm relationships between the parents or primary caregivers and the subject. The prospects such a mode of action offers are not only higher, but also more far-reaching.

It may seem obvious, but poor nutritional conditions or unfavorable family environments make it difficult for the child to can fully learn the school teachings, since her intellectual capacities do not escape the detrimental effects of the adversity. In this sense, it cannot be doubted that the possibilities of educational achievement of a child are exponentially expanded if it counts. with all its potentialities intact and can tackle homework without having to overcome additional obstacles. (Kotliarenco, Y Pardo ).

Today it is necessary to know as primary the need to strengthen children inwardlye so that they can resist a world as difficult as globalizations, inform them, train them favor each stage of growth if rush them to live knowing themselves (Ramírez, 1995).

Attachment goes from cradle to grave, but the first three years are very personality-building and the most structuring in terms of resilience. But there are later attachment relationships that are also resilient. Research indicates that the higher the intelligence, the greater the resilience capacity, but we are betting that resilient behaviors can be developed in all people (Sánchez, 2003)

Conclusions.

It is clear that resilience does not develop in all individuals in the same way and that each one has different ways of developing and acquiring skills to overcome their problems that according to Kolb (1973) for which it is necessary to make clear that each one forms his capacities and chooses as develop them.

Resistance can therefore manifest itself in silences, denials, evasions and even embarrassing situations and intense emotional reactions. Resistance serves as a defense mechanism against the anguish that arises when the individual perceives in him the feelings and impulses that he repudiates.

It also revealed some of the ways in which we can be a little more "resistant" to adverse situations and how to stand up to a trance, and thus it is shown that not all individuals have the same ability to overcome obstacles and take it as growth in their life rather than a difficulty.

Resilience is a characteristic that may appear as a product of a positive interaction between the personal and environmental component of an individual but also as a way to respond to conflict situations.

The gifts that are given to people are great, and therefore there is guarantee of success, but it all depends on the personal and social qualities and the style with which the tests acquire value.

However, the vast variety of information that is supplied, both positive and negative, can make the person see yourself in a clearer way than you perceived yourself before undergoing the difficult tests of your lifetime.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to Resilience in social psychology, we recommend that you enter our category of Social psychology.

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