Promoting Resilience

Neil Thompson, PhD, DLitt, is an independent writer, educator, and adviser based in Wales (UK).Gerry R. Cox, PhD, is a professor emeritus of sociology/archaeology at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, director of the Center for Death Education and Bioethics, and a member of the board of directors of the National Prison Hospice Association (USA).

• Part One: Understanding ResilienceIntroduction1. Making Sense of ResilienceGerry R. Cox and Neil ThompsonPart Two: Developing ResilienceIntroduction2. Resilience in American Indian Communities Gerry R. Cox3. "Yma O Hyd": Language and ResilienceNeil Thompson4. Community Resilience: Reflections on a Community Response to Tragedy Ros Scott5. Tragedy and Injustice Michael Brennan6. Living with Terrorism Andy Hau Yan Ho and Geraldine Tan-Ho7. Violent Crime and ResilienceGerry R. Cox8. Mental Health Problems: Getting to the HEART of ResilienceNeil Thompson9. Alcohol and Drugs: Resilience in Use and UsersWulf Livingston 10. The Spirit of Resilience through the Prism of Homelessness: Avoiding Stigma and Labelization Gerry Skelton 11. Resilience and Poverty Signe Dobelniece12. Resilience in the Alice Springs Town CampsShirleen Campbell, Maree Corbo and Ronnie Egan 13. "It Takes a Lot of Energy": Surviving SexismTashel C. Bordere, Elizabeth A. Sharp, and Celeste Medina 14. Family Resilience in Dealing with Grief and Loss: A Sociological PerspectivePaul C. Rosenblatt15. Building a Narrative of Resilience for RefugeesChristopher Cox16. Resilience and Older People Denise Tanner17. Recovering from Childhood Trauma Vivienne Dacre18. Care Leavers and ResilienceLorna Stabler19. The Role of the School Robert G. Stevenson20. Building Resilience in Organizations: A Challenge for Leaders: What Happens if Leaders Get Sick?Rozana Huq21. Resilience at WorkNeil Thompson22. Promoting Resilience, Challenging Bullying Andrew Vitale23. Resilience and Spirituality: A personal Perspective Bernard Moss24. Resilience through Meaning Making Neil Thompson25. Resilience and Continuing Bonds Charles A. Corr and Kenneth J. Doka26. The Dual Process Model and Resilience Amy Y. M. Chow27. The Role of Pastoral Care Bernard Moss28. Promoting Resilience in Social Work – From the "Comfort of Strangers" to Community Empowerment and the "Management of Risk"Paul Stepney29. An Exhibition on Resilience for a Time of GriefWendy Bowler30. Compassion and ResilienceDarcy Harris

"In Promoting Resilience Thompson and Cox offer insight into a wide range of contexts in which resilience is relevant. They uniquely apply both a sociological perspective and a practice focus to the study of resilience and in so doing significantly deepen understanding of this complex topic." — Susan E. Wright, PhD, professor emerita of sociology, Drake University, USA"Promoting Resilience fulfills the lofty objective of its title, bringing together a truly global team to prepare essays that draw upon each other's work. We learn practical ways to be more resilient and to help those in our communities and social networks to thrive the crises that come with life. The contributors draw upon examples from the everyday workplace to locales ranging from a schoolyard in Scotland to the Outback in Australia. The reader is left with insight into the role of community and social capital in overcoming adversity, vulnerability, loss, and grief." — Richard T. Schaefer, Department of Sociology, DePaul University, USA"Thompson and Cox have assembled a team of scholars that have collectively applied the concept of resilience in concise and thought-provoking ways to a range of situations that produce ontological insecurity. In so doing, they have succeeded in addressing the challenge posed by Joel Best in his foreword, which is to prove the value of this relatively new concept." — Peter Kivisto, Augustana College, USA"Promoting Resilience makes an important contribution to the literature on bereavement, loss, death and dying and is a valuable addition to the field of mental health more generally. It will engage students, practitioners, professionals, as well as scholars and anyone else interested in how we as humans confront and survive adversity. The book’s main point, presented in an excellent and thorough introductory chapter, is to challenge the common understanding of resilience as an individual trait or achievement. In contrast, the book re-positions resilience as a complex, multi-dimensional, socially constructed product of communities, families, institutions, and cultures, plus myriad care professionals and informal helpers. Throughout the book’s 30 chapters, a range of contributors elaborate on this perspective with sociological theory and compelling examples from some of the most troubling societal problems and crises of our time. Seeing resilience as a social-cultural phenomenon adds a significant dimension to the discussion of how we respond to tragedy and adversity and helps point the way forward toward better preparation and outcomes. As such, this book is a fresh and welcome addition to the literature." — Mary Zimmerman, professor of health policy and sociology, University of Kansas, USA