Resilience in children
Ann
Masten wants to discover the “ordinary magic”—those
factors in everyday life and relationships that provide at least part of
what is needed to help children survive acute life events and move on to
healthy adulthood.
“I like looking for the things that
explain, at least in part, how people are able to turn their lives
around.”
Masten, professor in the Institute
of Child Development, has determined that adults who play significant
roles in a child's life at critical times can make an important
contribution to resilience. She also has identified resilience in those
children and young adults who have the capacity to "hold onto
meaning," to give the events in their lives an emotional framework
that somehow lets them cope more effectively. Her work has brought her
together with homeless families, Cambodian refugees, and children with
emotional and behavioral problems.
“The ability to think—take creative approaches, do
problem-solving, know how to get along, how to plan ahead, think things
through—we find this to be important in people's ability for protecting
and restoring themselves through adverse conditions and afterward,”
Masten says. “It's that capacity to recognize, 'I need to get out, I need
to protect myself.'”
Masten says she began her research in this area because she likes its
focus on the positive. “I like looking for the things that explain, at
least in part, how people are able to turn their lives around. What
we're finding is that what helps isn't anything extraordinary. That's
why I refer to it as ordinary magic. It's ordinary things like spending
time with a child who needs a friend. Yet that ordinary action can make
an amazing difference. Knowing what has helped particular children gives
you some ideas of what to do to help other children. You know, sometimes
you wonder if your work is making a difference. Then someone comes up to
you and tells you a story that lets you see that you have had an impact
and you can say, 'That's why I do what I do.'”
Ann Masten, 612-624-0215, amasten@umn.edu
See also:
Children Who Overcome Adversity to Succeed in Life February 2001
updated March 2007 |
