When Does Resilience Become Epistemic Injustice?

Abstract

In Ordinary Magic, Ann Masten (2014) conceptualizes resilience as a “dynamic system” with the capacity to cope amid adversity that would otherwise threaten one’s development or overall viability as a biopsychosocial person. As social workers, we understand the influence of risk factors on individual’s lives and the capability of one’s strengths—their grit—to overcome adversity. Therefore, resilience is often understood as internal strengths within an individual despite external risk factors. A cursory examination of resilience in social work literature reveals articles that span the gamut from the conceptualization of resilience in social work practice, to the positioning of resilience amid human development and social environments, to a reflective assessment of how we train social work students and practitioners to recognize resilience within themselves and their clients (de las Olas Palma-García & Hombrados-Mendieta, 2014; Park et al., 2018). Although the discourse paints resilience as a nonmonolithic experience, it is singularly positive. Resilience is a good thing.