Resilience explanations from adolescents challenged by unemployment

Abstract

My study is a sub-study of the Resilient Youth in Stressed Environments (RYSE) Project (ethics clearance, UP17/05/01). The RYSE project focuses on gaining a more thorough understanding of the resilience of youth living in communities that are dependent on the petrochemical industry, as well as the associated risks. The purpose of my qualitative sub-study was to explore how older adolescents from the eMbalenhle community explain resilience in the face of unemployment. The current literature tends to be reliant on academic understandings of resilience. In order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of resilience, it is important to recognise the perspectives of resilience of adolescents who live in a highly stressed environment that is confronted by multiple risks. In order to achieve the purpose of my study, I assumed an interpretivist approach. This approach is appropriate for developing an understanding of adolescents’ individual experiences and perceptions of resilience in a petrochemical community and in the face of unemployment. To guarantee that my question was answered, I utilised a phenomenological research design. The RYSE Project has established a Community Advisory Panel (CAP), and the CAP purposively sampled the participants involved in my study. Seven adolescents (all male) between the ages of 18 and 24 were recruited from eMbalenhle in the Govan Mbeki municipality in Mpumalanga. An Arts-based activity (draw and talk) and an informal group discussion were used to generate data. An inductive, thematic analysis of the data was conducted in order to identify themes. Ungar’s (2011) Social Ecology of Resilience Theory (SERT) provided the theoretical framework for my study. The main themes that emerged from the data, regarding resilience enablers among adolescents in the face of unemployment, were: Having a vision, appropriating opportunities, and drawing on social support. The themes that arose from the adolescents’ explanations of resilience support the SERT. I think these themes are important for educational psychologists who work with adolescents challenged by unemployment in eMbalenhle because they highlight the importance of social support and community in interventions. In addition, these themes provide possible individual strategies, from the perspective of adolescents, that could allow for positive adaptation despite adversity.