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Resilience: A Model for Global Social Issues

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The Palgrave Handbook of Global Social Problems

Abstract

The notion of resilience is often considered an important part of how one navigates global social issues, yet there is a lack of consistency and agreement in the literature as to how to operationalize this concept. Without specifying what resilience is, the concept becomes poorly understood and inaccurately applied in practice. Most importantly, resilience is at the center of the World Health Organization’s European policy framework for health and well-being and was incorporated into the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Therefore, the aim of this chapter is to critically define resilience in a way that is meaningful to addressing global social issues, with an eye toward an interdisciplinary term that bridges the gap in the literature. Definitions used in environmental, social, and medical spheres are presented as a foundation to the proposed definition and a critical discussion is provided regarding the gaps in those definitions when they are applied in the context of the social determinants of health. A comprehensive review of existing literature is presented to outline ways in which resilience has been conceptualized across various disciplines, a review of key related concepts such as social determinants of health, and an exploration of a proposed new definition can be utilized for policy development and individual interventions. A discussion ensues of how resilience has cultural variability and how what it means to be resilient has changed over time. Ultimately, a model is provided for holistic psychosocial resilience to global social issues that provides an overview of the impact of resilience on both individuals and communities and is useful for diverse application in interventions and policy development that fits diverse populations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Work, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

    Patricia A. Findley, Nicole Milano & Jennifer Schrum

Authors
  1. Patricia A. Findley
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  2. Nicole Milano
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  3. Jennifer Schrum
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Correspondence to Patricia A. Findley .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Work and Social Welfare, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

    Rajendra Baikady

  2. Department of Social Work, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India

    S.M Sajid

  3. Nicolaus Copernicus University, Torun, Poland

    Jaroslaw Przeperski

  4. Department of Social Work, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park, South Africa

    Varoshini Nadesan

  5. Inst of Social Welfare & Res, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh

    Islam Rezaul

  6. Sch of Philosophy & Social Development, Shandong University, Central Campus, Jinan, China

    Jianguo Gao

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Findley, P.A., Milano, N., Schrum, J. (2021). Resilience: A Model for Global Social Issues. In: Baikady, R., Sajid, S., Przeperski, J., Nadesan, V., Rezaul, I., Gao, J. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Global Social Problems. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-68127-2_62-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-68127-2_62-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-68127-2

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