NCJ Number
220141
Journal
Child and Youth Services Volume: 29 Issue: 1/2 Dated: 2007 Pages: 269-290
Date Published
2007
Length
22 pages
Annotation
This article contains a summary in the literary exploration of resiliency in at-risk children and youth in Ireland, a country emerging from a history of neglect towards vulnerable populations.
Abstract
It was found impossible to make global generalizations about children and youth from a phenomenological inquiry into the experiences of such a limited number of participants in just one city, Limerick, Ireland, and one case, St. Augustine’s. The goal of phenomenological research is, however, not to seek generalizations but to expose the individual case, endeavoring to use a symptomatic rather than representative approach to risk biographies. This has been an exploratory journey from risk to at-risk to resilience. One of the aims of the study has been to explore how a cohort of adolescents attempt to make sense of risk and resiliency in their lives. The study is critical of Irish social policy which consistently fails to acknowledge the importance of approaching and dealing with children and youth early in their at-risk cycles using a number of resiliency-led perspectives. The home life of a child, familial situation, peer group, and immediate living environment must all be targeted in any effective model of practice. The many social problems that appeared in this study should be addressed as they are seen to affect children and young people. The bottom-line of framing relevance to risk assessment is to move people into the zone of gains where their decisionmaking will be less risk-seeking. Notes, references