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Resilience: Revisiting the Concept and its Utility for Social Research

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Abstract

Researchers of resilience seek to understand why some people will recover from or avoid negative outcomes against the odds associated with exposure to particular adversities. Over the last two decades the concept of resilience has experienced “burgeoning interest” (Ungar, 2005, p. xvii). However, due to a lack of consistency in defining and measuring this theoretical construct within and across disciplines, the recent explosion of literature on resilience has contributed more to confusion than clarity among researchers and policy makers. In order to clarify the opportunities and pitfalls in store for future research, this paper provides an overview of the historical development of the resilience concept and the different approaches to resilience prominent today. It also addresses the relationship of resilience to the concept of risk. Since the majority of resilience research is concerned with the development of children and adolescents, this review is youth-oriented.

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Notes

  1. For detailed explorations of the different ways in which risk and protective factors operate, see Fergus and Zimmerman 2005; Zimmerman and Arunkumar 1994; Zimmerman et al. 2002.

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Acknowledgement

Many thanks to Dr. Patricia Erickson who so kindly directed my study of resilience through the University of Toronto. This research was supported by funds from The Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Institute of Gender and Health and Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addictions awarded to PreVAiL (Centre for Research Development in Gender, Mental Health and Violence Across the Lifespan).

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  1. Department of Sociology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    Katarina Kolar

  2. 1409 Pinetree Way, Coquitlam, BC, Canada, V3E 2T6

    Katarina Kolar

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Kolar, K. Resilience: Revisiting the Concept and its Utility for Social Research. Int J Ment Health Addiction 9, 421–433 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-011-9329-2

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