Resilience in Action

About the Authors
Preface

Chapter 1: Resilience Ecological Stress Model: Putting Resilience in Action

Chapter 2: Resilience Ecological Stress Model and Social Work Practice: Practice Strategies after Critical Events

Chapter 3: Resilience Ecological Stress Model: Fostering Individual Resilience in Combating a Chronic Disease

Chapter 4: Resilience Ecological Stress Model: Military Family Resilience – Reconnecting after War

Chapter 5: Resilience Ecological Stress Model: Group Practice with Survivors of a California Earthquake

Chapter 6: Resilience Ecological Stress Model: Resisting Political Violence at the Workplace

Chapter 7: Educational Resilience: A Preventive Resilience Ecological Stress Model Approach

Chapter 8: Resilience Ecological Stress Model: Preparing for a Resilient Approach to Refugee Resettlement

Chapter 9: Resilience Ecological Stress Model and Special Populations during an Adverse Event

References
Index

Roberta R. Greene, PhD, LCSW, was professor and chair in Gerontology and Social Welfare at the School of Social Work, University of Texas at Austin. She worked at the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) and the National Association of Social Workers. She also served on the CSWE Commission on Educational Policy and Innovation. She is a recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship award. Dr. Greene has authored numerous publications in the areas of aging, human behavior, and social work. Her books include Social Work with the Aged and Their Families, Competence: Select Theoretical Frameworks, Human Behavior Theory and Social Work Practice, Human Behavior Theory: A Diversity Framework, and Resiliency: An Integrated Approach to Practice, Policy, and Research.

Nicole Dubus, PhD, MSW, LCSW, is assistant professor in social work at San Jose State University in California. Her research interests are on the life course experiences of refugees and on interprofessional practice in health and behavioral health settings.

Resilience in Action was reviewed by Elise H. Reed for the journal Social Work.

Roberta R. Greene, PhD, LCSW, professor and chair in Gerontology and Social Welfare at the School of Social Work, University of Texas at Austin, and Nicole Dubus, PhD, LCSW, assistant professor in social work at San Jose State University, California, have developed a practical guide to direct service providers through the complex roles of helping survivors affected by long-term adverse conditions reclaim their lives in Resilience in Action: An Information and Practice Guide. This case study–driven guide addresses natural disasters; chronic disease; family readjustment, including refugee resettlement; and political violence. In line with the ethical responsibilities of social work practice, this book highlights work with vulnerable and marginalized populations in addressing ongoing conditions of adversity. The book indicates that critical events addressed in the text are often a chain in an ongoing series of events for the referenced group. Attention is given to the issue of prevention as it relates to the need for specialized skills when working with children and older adults.

Read the full review. Available to subscribers of Social Work.

This book is intended to serve as a guide for service providers helping survivors of an adverse critical event. Toolboxes throughout the book provide examples of statements to listen for and behaviors to observe that may illustrate ways in which the provider can make a resilience response to people under stress. The goal is to build on survivors’ naturally occurring resilience strategies.

At the time of this writing, the largest mass murder in the modern-day United States occurred in Orlando, Florida, on June 12, 2016, when a lone shooter killed 49 people and wounded 53, further bringing home the relevance of and need for resilience-enhancing work after adverse critical events. The survivors’ reactions to the horrors of this event remind us of people’s natural resilience. News accounts were replete with stories of individuals attempting to protect and bring each other to safety. People told stories of remembrance, and the community set up safe havens and shelters; provided water, food, and basic supplies; and delivered messages of support. Vigils were held, memorials established, and creative acts such as choral performances were attended. Targeted populations, sexual minorities, and the Latino community, offered support to each other and interacted with Muslim neighbors.

As you read through the text, themes are summarized that express love, grief, loss, healing, care, compassion, fear, community, loyalty, tragedy, acceptance, hope, determination, purpose, connection, relationships, bravery, self-sacrifice, endings, transformation.