Family Enablers of the Resilience of Youth Living in Industrialised Communities

Abstract

My study is a sub-study of the Resilient Youth in Stressed Environments (RYSE) Project. RYSE endeavours to better understand the resilience shown by youth who reside in communities that are affected by the petrochemical industry, and the risks associated with this industry. My study is of limited scope, and aims to explore the role of families in facilitating resilience amongst youth between the ages of 15 and 24 years who reside in the petrochemical-affected community of eMbalenhle in the Mpumalanga region of South Africa. My study made use of the social ecology of resilience theory (SERT) as proposed by Ungar (2011). Furthermore, my study followed a phenomenological research design, seeking to better understand the experiences of the 30 adolescent participants recruited for this research. Participants were selected from the community of eMbalenhle, and engaged in arts-based activities, namely, body mapping and draw-write-talk. Data generated from these activities was analysed using thematic content analysis, in which coding was used to identify key themes. The themes identified include family members work at Sasol, families provide affective support to youth, and families motivate youth to create positive futures. My study serves to provide information that is absent from current resilience literature relating to the resilience of youth affected by the petrochemical industry in South Africa, and how family (both immediate and extended) can champion resilience in this context.