| Abstract: | The concept of resilience provides a necessary framework forunderstanding the varied ways in which some children do wellin the face of adversity. The debate on resilience in childrenhas shifted from an emphasis on factors to an emphasis on processesand mechanisms and from identifying resilience to promotingresilience. Children in long-term foster-care have experienceda range of early adversities which continue to affect theirself-esteem, self-efficacy and capacity to cope with developmentalchallenges. Risk and protective characteristics in the foster-child,the foster-carers, the birth family and the agencies involvedwith the child will interact in complex ways to produce upwardor downward spirals. This article reports on a longitudinalstudy of children in long-term foster-care, funded by the NuffieldFoundation. It provides a psychosocial model that links innerand outer worlds, developmental theory and social work practice,to explore why some children appear to be making good progresswhile others continue to experience multiple developmental difficulties. |
