Achieving Despite the Odds: A Study of Resilience Among a Group of Africa American High School Seniors

Abstract

This article reports on a study examining the phenomenon of resilience, or the manifestation of competence despite the presence of stressful life events or circumstances, as a factor leading to the academic success of 20 African American 12th-graders (10 females, 10 males)from impoverished backgrounds. Interviews were conducted with these at-risk but achieving urban California high school seniors, to identify internal and external forces contributing to the development of resilience among them. Interview data suggest that their academic success is largely attributable to three protective mechanisms: a supportive, nurturing family and home environment; the youths' interactions with and the involvement of committed, concerned educators and other adults in their lives; and the development of two key personality traits-perseverance and optimism. INTRODUCTION A large body of research reports the problems associated with educating poor African American children (Barbarin, 1993; Edwards, 1976; Mackler, 1970). To the further detriment of these youth, rarely does one see the terms competent, resourceful, aspiring, or motivated used to describe them or their performance in school (Barbari 1993). As a result, many teachers and parents begin to believe that failure is the norm for these students, and their expectations for the achievement of Black youth subsequently are lowered. Yet, to focus primarily on the problems of any group of people in isolation from data that highlight possible solutions to their problems is to promote distorted and negative stereotypes that perpetuate defeat and pessimism. As Garmezy (1991) contends, the study of success is just as important as the study of failure, and focusing solely on problems frequently yields inaccurate and often unnecessary data. In contrast to the research emphasizing the negative, other studies have shown that poor Black children can achieve academically and that more such children, given their natural abilities and intelligence levels, should be having academic success but are not (Edmonds, 1979). Indeed, as Barbarin (1993), Freiberg (1993), Rutter (1987), and Werner (1989) maintain, many Black children learn and succeed in school despite circumstances that include low socioeconomic status, minimal teacher expectations, and inadequate representation of their successes. This finding, that some African American students from impoverished backgrounds successfully emerge from high-risk environments, has led many researchers to attempt to identify causes or elements that serve to assist them in coping with and overcoming dire circumstances (Rhodes & Brown, 1991). These studies suggest that the difference between success and failure for these young people, both inside and outside of school, often boils down to the presence or absence of factors associated with a specific character trait: resilience (Freiberg, 1993; Wang & Gordon, 1994). Resilience and Risk Resilience is concerned with individual variations in response to risk (Rutter, 1987). Certain attributes have been found to be operative in the lives of children possessing this trait, including the ability to get along with others and to develop and pursue one's goals, a belief in the eventuality of one's efforts paying off, and the presence of a strong sense of trust and respect for oneself and others (Clark, 1993; Garmezy, 1991; Rhodes & Brown, 1991). The research on resilience, although recent and complex, is consistent. Researchers in the field of psychopathology have probed for precursor conditions that enhance the chances of producing resilient children (Garmezy, 1991; Rutter, 1987; Werner, 1989). The aims of their research were to identify and promote coping mechanisms among nonresilient children and to provide a foundation for a psychology of wellness. Educational researchers have studied resilience in their quest to identify the factors that place some students at risk of academic failure and to promote those factors that prevent this failure (Wang & Gordon, 1994; Winfield, 1994). …