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Chapter 11 - The Nature of Resilience: Coping with Adversity

from Section 2 - Scoping

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 June 2019

By
Richard Williams  and
Verity Kemp
Edited by
Richard Williams ,
Verity Kemp ,
S. Alexander Haslam ,
Catherine Haslam ,
Kamaldeep S. Bhui  and
Susan Bailey
Edited in association with
Daniel Maughan
Richard Williams
Affiliation:
University of South Wales
Verity Kemp
Affiliation:
Healthplanning Ltd.
S. Alexander Haslam
Affiliation:
University of Queensland
Catherine Haslam
Affiliation:
University of Queensland
Kamaldeep S. Bhui
Affiliation:
Queen Mary University of London
Susan Bailey
Affiliation:
Centre for Mental Health
Daniel Maughan
Affiliation:
Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust
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Summary

This book illustrates the burgeoning literature focusing on the ill effects of many forms of adversity, misfortune and disaster, whether deliberate and human-inspired or of, so-called, natural origins. There appear to be many possible ways in which humans can fare badly in response to endogenous and exogenous stress, inequity and inequality. But, by contrast with the risks and the all-too-real suffering of so many survivors, we are struck by the positive ways in which so many people appear to cope with the stress, strain and potentially deleterious impacts. Indeed, post-traumatic growth and mental health problems that are consequent on disasters do not appear to lie at the opposite extremes of a spectrum of outcome, but may co-occur.

We are moved to ask how so many people do well or reasonably well and in what ways that learning might be applied to preventing people from developing problems in the future.

Type
Chapter
Information
Social Scaffolding
Applying the Lessons of Contemporary Social Science to Health and Healthcare
 , pp. 87 - 104
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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