Resilience In Social Psychology

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

It must be well known that resilience not only helps us solve problems and live well, it has even a broader meaning. with a different perspective on life.

Throughout this work, some examples of resilience in the face of difficult situations such as Hurricane Katrina and Rita will be revealed and the way in which people manage to overcome, confront 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 overcome 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.

Before fully addressing the topic of resilience, we have to know some of its background, for example, in the Bible, Job overcomes the loss of all his material goods, for example, the young Anne Frank manages to continue her development. as a teenager during the Nazi war until she is murdered (Ángeles and 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 adverse situations and take advantage of them (Sanchez, 2003).

Rutter’s findings in 1990 have uncovered brain development and functioning from the biological bases of the phenomenon of resilience, as well as its contribution to the processes of psychophysiological development. It must be understood that resilience is not something that is acquired or not acquired, but rather it entails behaviors that any person 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 having been subjected to high pressures (López, 1996). Therefore, in the social sciences we can deduce that a person is resilient when he manages to overcome 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 caused by child learning and development.

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

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 his environment. For Domínguez, (2005), resilience is the process of adapting well to adverse situations or even significant sources such as stress.

Means bounce back from 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 involves two factors: resilience in the face of destruction, that is, the ability to protect one’s life and integrity in the face of deforming pressures, and the other is the ability to build positive vital behaviors, despite difficult circumstances (González, 2005).

Resilience could be defined as something new in history. 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 child learning and development.

Invest in resilience It would be much cheaper and surely the reduction of some adverse effects such as crime, prostitution, violence, drug addiction would be achieved in the medium term (Ángeles, R. and Morales, J. 1995) but a great doubt remains in the air where it remains. social justice and human development for each person as an individual, not a more generalized one that usually causes people to 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 resources 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 change process. Educational activities are incorporated that address the different dimensions of resilience. (González, 2005).

Actions must be promoted to benefit social inclusion of resiliencein order to take advantage of the vitality, capacity and energy 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 people who are in direct contact with children and adolescents.

This defensive mechanism mentioned by Kolb (1973), 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 consciously faced.

Resistance also occurs during psychoanalytic treatmentwhen the psychiatrist encourages the patient to make the repressed material perceptible through free association.

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

Resilience is not a trait that people either have or don’t 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 humiliation in the family, confinement in prison camps, crisis situations such as those caused by widowhood or divorce, great losses. economic or any other nature. (García, Rodríguez and Zamora).

Instead of asking 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 he manages to escape the evils of the so-called “risk groups”.

The fact that adversity does not irrevocably result in damaged individualsit has been shown that the formation of these 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 recreational material, but, fundamentally, of the mechanisms and dynamics that order the way they relate (Rutter 1985).

“Resilient” individuals stand out for having a high level of competence in different areaswhether intellectual, emotional, good coping stylesself-suggested achievement motivation, high self-esteem, feelings of hope, autonomy and independence, among others. And this may 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 were young when a traumatic event occurred; They have come from families led by competent parents, integrated into supportive social networks, who have provided them with warm relationships.

Regarding the psychological functioning that protects resilient people from stress, we will point out:

1. Higher IQ and better problem-solving skills.
2. Best coping styles.
3. Empathy, knowledge and proper management of interpersonal 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 capacity to have their own and useful identity, who know how to make decisions, set goals and this involves social places that involve family, friends and the government institutions of each country (Ramírez, 1995).

Among the protective mechanisms par excellence is the relationship of a significant supporter, who reaffirms the individual’s self-confidence, motivates him, and above all demonstrates his affection and unconditional acceptance (Sánchez, 2003).

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 reaffirmation 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 were young when a traumatic event occurred; They have come from families led by competent parents, integrated into supportive social networks, who 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 or contractually precarious jobs, lack of protection of their health and labor rights, prolonged unemployment, school failure and dropout, drug and alcohol addiction, etc. All this translates into low self-esteem, absence of a future project and difficulty making sense of the present (López, 1996).

Fonagy and collaborators pointed out that resilient people presented in their childhood the following attributes:

1. Higher socioeconomic level.
2. Absence of organic deficit.
3. Temper easy.

The following are the characteristics of the immediate social environment:

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

The presence of affectionate relationships It is vital to strengthen resilience through common example as the voices say “deeds and not words”. Opportunities for participation are significant 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 emotional bond that is established in the first years of life is vital for the development of a capable and secure individual in an entity.

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

The term child abuse covers a wide range of 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 abandonment, that is, physical or emotional harm due to deficiencies in food, clothing, housing, medical care, or education by 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, permanent high levels of stress and violence) raise cortisol levels and in turn this affects the metabolism, the immune system and the brain.

It is of special importance that what is described does not occur in children who receive special care affectionate and nurturing in the first year of life, they are less likely to respond to tension, producing other different reactions in children who do not have this care. So if a child is abandoned or neglected at a very early age, brain functions The ability to learn and solve problems are severely damaged.

There are some factors associated with developing resilience through which we can support ourselves and be less susceptible to the 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 capacity to make realistic plans which we will carry out, have a positive view of ourselves and trust in our strengths and abilities, problem-solving skills and communication, the ability to manage very strong feelings and impulses. We must associate alternatives to glimpse hope in situations that we generally associate with an accumulation of shortcomings (González, 2005).

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 work with adversity.

For example, the impact of Hurricane Katrina and Rita was so enormous that it left its impact felt on people of different cultures. The good news about resilience is that it can be built through various approaches that make sense in various 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 may be a little better. Moving towards goals makes strategies develop the ability to be successful and be a resilient individual who integrates into a community.

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

Working in the field of resilience in an individual implies a paradigmatic change in the sense of emphasizing innate strength and seeing things as 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 It 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 the success or failure obtained from them (Sánchez, 2003). .

Resilience is more than resisting attacks, the 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:

1. The ability to play. Do not take things so personally that fear prevents you from finding the exits. And in this case the sense of humor, looking at things as if from the back of a long-view lens allows us to distance ourselves from conflicts. Creativity, the multiplication of personal interests, the games of the imagination relegate those causes of alarm to their right place, revitalizing it so as not to become 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 place affection and admiration, who serve as a guide and stimulus. This is what in the common language of resilience groups is known as “getting hooked.” The so-called “support networks” or containment networks are also essential, links that enrich and prevent the person from feeling in vital hardship. Friends, a teacher, a neighborhood community, resilience groups act as permanent support and encouragement.
3. The self support. It can be summarized as a message that the person creates for himself. “I know this is going to happen to me,” he says to herself in the face of a bad situation. In other words: “I love myself, I trust myself, I can sustain myself in life.”

Attempts to discover the biological basis 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 on the matter, by realizing that no adverse element is, in itself, a source of inevitable deterioration or harm to the individual and that, in general, adversity can be, if not counteracted, attenuated through the establishment of careful and warm relationships between the parents or primary caregivers and the subject. The perspectives that such a mode of action offers are not only higher, but also more far-reaching.

It may seem obvious, but deficient nutritional conditions or unfavorable family environments make it difficult for the child to fully learn school teachings, since their intellectual abilities do not escape the detrimental effects of adversity. In this sense, there can be no doubt that a child’s possibilities for educational achievement expand exponentially if he has all his potential intact and can tackle schoolwork without having to overcome additional obstacles. (Kotliarenco, Y Pardo).

Today it is necessary to know how primary the need to strengthen children internallye so that they can resist a world as difficult as globalization, inform them, train them, favor each stage of growth without urging them to live knowing themselves (Ramírez, 1995).

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

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 capabilities to overcome their problems, according to Kolb (1973), which is why it is necessary to make it clear that each person forms their capabilities and chooses how to 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.

Some of the ways in which we can be a little more “resistant” in the face of adverse situations and how to get up in the face of a trance were also revealed, thus demonstrating that not all individuals have the same ability to overcome obstacles and Take it as growth in your life rather than a difficulty.

Resilience is a characteristic that can 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 successbut it all depends on the personal and social qualities and the style with which the tests acquire value.

However, the vast variety of information provided, both positive and negative, can make a person see themselves more clearly than they did before undergoing the difficult trials of their life.

This article is merely informative, at PsychologyFor 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.

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