A Case Study of Resilient African American Adults

Abstract

Through a qualitative, case-study, the extensive literature regarding resilience and the historical information regarding the city in which the participants resided rendered the following five factors that constitute the protective factors for the study: societal and socioeconomic factors such as supportive adults at home, at school, and in the community; rigorous and challenging educational experiences that meet the academic, social and cultural needs of the child; opportunities for continuous engagement and focus through extracurricular after-school, Saturday, and summer enrichment programs; a network of achieving peers; and a strong belief in and sense of oneself. The ways in which these protective factors relate to sources of efficacy information were identified and analyzed.