Reconceptualising Resilience – A CRFR Seminar
by Emma Davidson and Maddi Bunker
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Emma Davidson is a Co-Director of CRFR and of the Binks Hub.
Maddi Bunker is a PhD Student at The University of Edinburgh.
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At our final seminar last term, CRFR had the pleasure of welcoming our Associate Director, Lisa McDaid, and her colleague Stephanie Wyeth, from the University of Queensland to reflect and reconceptualise ‘resilience’. This is a topic CRFR has explored in recent years through articles, blogs and a Special Issue on Adverse Childhood Experiences.
Our work has been interested both in resilience as a policy concept, and as a tool for those working with families and in communities. Within, we discussed the utility of ‘resilience’ to those in practice, and engaged in critique around its role in promoting individual protective factors over and above tackling structurally embedded inequalities.
Lisa and Steph’s presentation drew first on evidence from a rapid meta-review. Notably, the review did not find a concrete definition of resilience in the literature, although studies consistently acknowledged resilience as a multifaceted construct that operates dynamically and contextually. Notably, the evidence was skewed to the individual and family resilience. Rather less attention was given to wider, more complex understandings that encompass bio-psycho-socioecological dimensions of resilience.
Drawing on the literature, the team produced a conceptual metaphor for bio-psycho-socioecological (BPSE) resilience. This presents the resilience ecosystem within which the seed (the child) sprouts and grows when it is situated within fertile soil (an analogy for the family). This, in turn, is nourished from the sun, rain, and clear air (depicting the community and society). Metaphorically, this interacting process depicts the bidirectional interaction between the child and their environment, as well as depicting the intergenerational and life course transmission of resilience. It demonstrates the multiplicity of opportunities in the resilience ecosystem for programs to intervene and supports a shared vision for people, organisations and sectors to work together on creating an optimal and resilient ecosystem for children to thrive.
Next, Steph presented the practical implementations of community resilience work. She discussed a range of projects she has engaged with as an urban planning. Most striking was her ongoing work with Bindi Bindi project to support children and families in Brisbane, Australia. She emphasised the need to “Walk the Walk” and bring principles from our research into practice using a place-based, community-led approach to working with families.
Lisa and Steph’s presentation was followed by presentations from Kathryn Millar, from Fife Gingerbread, and Dalia Avello-Dega, a post-doctoral researcher in Social Policy at the University of Edinburgh. Kath was keen to acknowledge the structural barriers that the families they work with face. Through family support, their aim is to support families to make sustainable progress. This means working with them to build confidence and self-esteem, change expectations about themselves, challenge stigma, and importantly, be equipped with tools should things go wrong. Dalia spoke on resilience from the perspective of her ongoing doctoral research which is focused on the role of ‘significant others’ – those people who support and encourage children’s positive development and wellbeing, without expectations or judgement. Her work is critical since it enables us to move away from thinking about child well-being through a parent-child binary, and throw light on how networks of support (including peers) can change over time and across social contexts.
The presentations provoked several challenging questions. A central focus was on the definitional utility of resilience. The term is frequently rehearsed, yet often poorly articulated. Is part of the issue, therefore, the definition itself? The panel recognised the problematisation of the term, and discussed alternative ways of framing. Kath, for instance, referred to ‘the things that sustain families’. Others in the audience saw the utility in resilience, but questioned how it is translating into practice. Too often, even with Getting it Right for Every Child in place, different policy areas (housing, health, community development) continue to operationalise concepts like resilience in isolation. This hampers joint working and, more importantly, the systemic change we need.
Steph’s example of Bindi Bindi place is a good reminder of how systems can work more effectively through place, and with greater attention to equality and diversity. Bindi Bindi, Steph told us, was chosen for its reference in the local Indigenous language to ‘butterfly’. This represents how the centre will help children and their families transform, break free of past behaviours, and evolve to new beginnings. Weook forward to hearing more about Bindi Bindi at CRFR, and continuing our conversations with practitioners and policy makers in Scotland.
McDaid, Lisa; Edmed, Shannon; Maturi, Jennifer; and, Xiang, Ning. (2023). Childhood Builders – Operationalising Resilience Frames and Tools Evidence Review Report. Brisbane, QLD, Australia: ISSR.