In a seminal work on the development of resilience in childhood Robert Brooks (1) talks about ways in which kids and young adults can learn to build their resilience and ways in which adults can help them to do so.
As with all of the research on the development of resilience in early life the messages are just as meaningful and relevant for adults. Along with many important and thought-provoking ideas relating to responsibility, decision making, courage and the development of hopefulness, Brooks describes two key aspects of the development of resilience
- islands of competence
- building competence through social support
Islands of competence
According to Brooks, building resilience is not about building superkids. Low resilience is associated with powerlessness, isolation and feelings of worthlessness. Higher levels of resilience are associated with mastery, confidence and a sense of achievement.
Stimulating children to find even only one thing that they can be good at will be laying a firm foundation for the development of resilience. Being good at something, or (crucially) feeling good at something, allows the child to start succeeding. It provides a trigger for the emergence of core confidence (click here to read about core confidence).
Building competence through social support
Children who find ways to gain support from resourceful adults are more likely to build resilience and to overcome difficulties and adversities in their lives. This is most relevant in the context of solving difficult and complex problems. Most kids will be fairly self-reliant at solving their problems but those kids who turn to a helpful adult when they meet problems that are too complex for them are building additional resilience factors into their lives.
(1) Brooks, R. & Goldstein, S. (2001) Raising resilient children. McGraw-Hill, New York.
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