Abstract
Research on the resilience of young people who were raised by substance-abusing caregivers is limited. This study aims to explore the internal interactional processes between nonhuman systems and young adults raised by alcohol-abusing caregivers in Lesotho. Multiple in-depth interviews were conducted and a draw-and-write technique applied with 15 university students, six of whom described having interacted with diverse nonhuman systems in their environment. A grounded theory analysis generated two themes: (1) interacting with empowering messages from non-present writers (through songs and books) and inspirational speakers (through videos) and (2) interacting with imaginary friends and inanimate objects (dolls and tattoos) in order to enhance their resilience. Van Breda’s interactional resilience approach, developed from person-in-the-environment perspective, and Margaret Archer’s theory of agency were found to be useful in interpreting the findings. The implications of the study include the need for social workers’ greater focus on young people’s interactions with nonhuman systems for resilience building.
Highlights
A family caught up in alcohol addiction is often perceived as a “damaged”, “split” or “fractured” family (Gudzinskiene & Gedminiene, 2011:163)
The findings of this study show that some children raised by alcohol-abusing caregivers engage in internal conversations with nonhuman systems, and that these internal interactions constitute resilience processes, because they enable better-than-expected outcomes
IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSION This study makes a valuable contribution to the role played by nonhuman systems and objects as resilience resources among young adults in Lesotho, where there is no research on the subject
Summary
A family caught up in alcohol addiction is often perceived as a “damaged”, “split” or “fractured” family (Gudzinskiene & Gedminiene, 2011:163). Caregiver alcohol abuse has been associated with negative parenting behaviours, including intimidation and unreliability, inadequate monitoring and involvement, ineffective control of the child’s behaviour and harsh discipline (Smith & Wilson, 2016). Coming from chronically disorganised and distressing family settings, children of alcohol-abusing caregivers are at risk of a variety of physical, social, interpersonal, physiological, emotional and behavioural problems (Raitasalo & Holmila, 2017), such as depression, suicidal ideation, substance abuse and interpersonal difficulties (Raitasalo & Holmila, 2017). Significant challenges in negotiating the transition from home to independent living have been reported among adult children of alcohol-abusing parents (Kim & Lee, 2011), who may themselves use and abuse alcohol and other substances (Smith & Wilson, 2016)
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