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Anne Masten, professor of child psychology and director of the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota, spoke Feb. 1 as part of a colloquium on “Resiliency in Children.” Some highlights:
“I study a phenomenon; in other words, there is something out there, and I try to understand it. When people study resiliency, they are studying a class of these phenomena in the context of a very significant threat or a hazardous environment. . . . What’s implicated in these studies of resiliency is that human adaptation systems, as long as they are operating, can protect development even under some horrible situations. . . .
“We have to broaden our conceptual frameworks and think of the mobilization of these protective systems. We have to assess more than just the risks and problems in children and ask, ‘What are the potential strengths and assets that I can mobilize?’ . . . In the future I think we’re going to see a lot more intervention research, and it’s going to prove to be successful. . . .
“We face many dangerous ideas today. First, the notion that anyone is invulnerable. . . . Second, the statement that children make it on their own. . . . Third, those who say the successful never falter or suffer. . . . Finally, the idea that children who make it have some type of rare and special magic--what is striking about these studies is how ordinary the processes are that enable people to make it. It doesn’t require being a genius or having super-parents--what is required is pretty fundamental.” |
