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Understanding family resilience
Author(s) -
Patterson Joän M.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/jclp.10019
Subject(s) - conceptualization , family resilience , psychology , coping (psychology) , competence (human resources) , social psychology , developmental psychology , psychological resilience , clinical psychology , computer science , artificial intelligence
Abstract Families, as social systems, can be considered “resilient” in ways that parallel descriptions of individual resilience. In this article, the conceptualization of family‐level outcomes as a prerequisite for assessing family competence, and hence their resilience, is presented relative to the unique functions that families perform for their members and for society. The risk and protective processes that give rise to resilience in families are discussed in terms of family stress and coping theory, with a particular emphasis on the family's subjective appraisal of their sources of stress and their ability to manage them. An effort is made to distinguish two perspectives on resilience: exposure to significant risk as a prerequisite for being considered resilient versus promotion of strengths for all families in which life in general is viewed as risky. Implications for practitioners and policy makers in working with families to promote their resilience are discussed. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol 58: 233–246, 2002.