Negotiating resilience: protective process of adolescents living in potential risk contexts

Abstract

The research is an exploratory study to be developed in 5 Brazilian cities (Presidente Prudente, Taubaté, Assis, Belo Horizonte and Porto Alegre) by a team of 5 researchers, members of the ANPEPP (National Association of Research and Graduate Studies of Psychology) group "Youth, Resilience and Vulnerability" that aims to understand the interactive process associated with positive development and resilience of 20 adolescents (10 males and 10 females) exposed to adversities and living in contexts that are not expected for their ages and are seen in Brazilian culture as potential risks for the development (child work, sexual violence, physical disability and urban poverty). This study is based on the research "Negotiating resilience: Protective processes of children in transitions across cultures and contexts" (supported by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada - SSHRC) coordinated by Michael Ungar, from Dalhousie University (CA, where the proponent is developing a post-doctorate until February, 2009) and carried out by a team of international researchers from Canada, India, Thailand, South Africa and China. The theoretical approach is based on the studies of resilience developed by Ungar et al. It will be used visual methods (videos of adolescent`s "a day of your life" and pictures of meaningful people and context of their lives), observation, semi-structured interviews (recorded and transcribed) and meetings with the participants in order to discuss the data obtained through visual methods. The obtained data will be presented at conferences and published. (AU)