Study of a family that overcomes poverty issues: family resilience?
Abstract
Generally, researches with families focus the difficulties and the negative aspects of family life by bringing up their maladjustments and failures. The interest in family resilience contributes to change this logic by demonstrating the healthy aspects of the family world. Nevertheless, the term resilience presents ideological controversies which are more severe when the discussion is about families and poverty. In order to diminish these contradictions this study adopted a systemic concept of resilience which refers to “those processes that make possible to overcome adversities”. A case study was realized with a low income family who lived in a “very poor” neighborhood in the deep south of Brazil. The methodological strategies to the formal investigation of the family were: life history of the family using the principles of reflexive interview, genograms and data analyses through the approach of the grounded theory. The results showed that the family lived a number of risk experiences such as adoption, privation of basic needs, migration and diseases. Among the indicators of their abilities of “overcoming adversities”, emerged the belief system as the core of the discourses. The family showed that they value the interpersonal relationships through intra and extra familiar interactions based in the patterns of help, learning, affection and solidarity. During the crisis the family gives meaning to the difficulties in order to maintaining the situation controlled through cohesion, open communication, mutual respect and getting support of the extended family/ social network. The pos-adversity period is perceived as benefic and transforming as the family feels stronger and with feelings of solidarity, which is a mark of this family. Their attitude in relation to the neighborhood is active in the sense of promoting the welfare of other families who live in the same social address. Would those above identified processes be adequate to define “family resilience” or they only suggest the group adaptation to the social dominant norms?
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