Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references.

Research on female street prostitutes has focused on negative consequences of the lifestyle. Yet, there is a dearth of literature on resilience and coping. This study addresses resilience and coping skills among three groups of women in various stages of prostitution: actively prostituting, exited the lifestyle for less than six months and exited for more than eighteen months. Aims included a description, a comparison and exploration of relationships for the following variables: trauma in childhood and adulthood, physical and mental health problems, number of provider visits in the last year, resilience and coping skills. There is an estimated 70,000 to one million prostitutes in the United States. Female Street prostitutes suffer the highest rates of violence, abuse, and stigma of all types of sex workers with the violence often leading to an increase in premature mortality. Female street prostitutes have been shown to be at high risk for mental and physical health problems, violence, and homelessness. There were 50 female street prostitutes who completed the following seven questionnaires: Demographic Characteristics, The Adverse Childhood Experiences, Adult Trauma Questionnaire, Health Questionnaire, The Connor Davidson Resilience Scale, The Ways of Coping, and The Global Appraisal of Individual Needs Short Screener. The findings support women who exited the lifestyle of prostitution for more than eighteen months had a higher score on resilience. The women were able to address substance abuse, crime/violence, and externalizing issues early in treatment however scores on internalizing issues were only lower in the women exiting the lifestyle for 18 months or more. Women who had exited for more than 18 months had higher positive reappraisal scores and lower distancing. Women still prostituting reported acute health issues whereas women exiting the lifestyle for 18 months or more reported chronic issues. These findings suggest that women who have experienced trauma throughout their lives will need longer-term treatment to promote resilient reintegration into society. Access to therapy is needed early upon exiting the lifestyle. Healthcare providers need to be educated to recognize red flags of prostitutes so appropriate assessments and interventions can occur much earlier in their life.

The world we live in is increasingly complex, interconnected and unpredictable. We face social and technological challenges, which must be overcome through the maintenance and redesign of existing systems, as well as the design and integration of new systems. Each of these systems has stakeholders at different levels and across domains, from those governing societies, to technical experts working on well-defined tasks. These stakeholders generally want their system to survive, or even thrive, in the face of uncertainty and unexpected influences. To describe this desire, people, from politicians to CEOs, use the word resilience. Resilience is a term that is referred to across domains in academic and public discourse. However, the exact definition of resilience is elusive, and it is not clear how to apply resilience in the context of socio-technical systems. To design resilient systems, we must first be able to answer questions including: Does a resilient system change to accommodate influences or stay the same? If the system changes, where should this change take place? How do we decide which system, or sub-system, to make resilient and at what level of abstraction? In this research I show how we can answer these questions by eliciting, combining and contrasting the perspectives of multiple stakeholders of socio-technical systems. In order to talk to these stakeholders, in interviews and workshops, I had to overcome communication barriers. Communicating about resilience is challenging because the term means different things to different people, both within and across domains. In this research I use diagrams to develop our understanding of resilience as a concept, prompt discussions with stakeholders, represent examples of resilience, and compare stakeholder perspectives across domains. Using these diagrams, I present three characteristics of resilience that have emerged from the literature and empirical studies: resisting, recovering and changing in response to influences. I also show how resilience is framed by stakeholders’ perspectives and depends on how a system’s boundary, purpose and timescale is defined. The characteristics of resilience are related to system dimensions, structure and function, with a focus on the similarities and differences between social and technical sub-systems. This research contributes a new understanding of resilience in the context of design practice, which moves us closer towards being able to design resilient socio-technical systems.

PE lessons are a unique context to address the declining levels of physical activity in the UK, offering the opportunity for students to achieve age appropriate physical activity recommendations. Therefore, it is imperative that researchers and practitioners understand variables that underpin students motivational processes in PE lessons. Psychological resilience refers to the idea that some individuals are able to positively adapt to the stressors they encounter. Conceptual theorisers of resilience propose that the concept comprises three constructs: stressors, positive adaptation, and protective factors. The purpose of the thesis is to focus on the first construct of stressors: which may be major life events, or the minor and cumulative demands of everyday life. Specifically, the current thesis aims to develop a measure of stressors in the context of PE lessons within the wider framework of resilience. The thesis is split into five chapters. The first chapter overviews the importance of facilitating motivation and engagement in PE lessons, and introduces the concept of resilience to stressors. Chapter two is split into three parts and comprises three reviews: the first provides an overview of the definitions, concepts, and theoretical models of academic resilience; the second is a systematic review of the approaches to measuring academic resilience and; the third presents a narrative review of daily stressors experienced by adolescents. Chapter three presents the first two studies of this programme of research. Study one is a qualitative exploration of the common stressors experienced by secondary school students during their PE lessons. Underpinned by the concept of resilience, study two explores the protective factors students utilise to facilitate their positive adaptation to these everyday stressors. Drawing on the reviews presented in chapter two, and the qualitative exploration of stressors in PE, chapter four presents a series of studies describing the development of the PE Experiences Questionnaire (PEEQ). Specifically, study three explores the content validity of a pool of items designed to reflect common stressors in PE lessons. Study four examines the factorial structure of the PEEQ using exploratory factor analysis, and study five tests the factorial structure of the PEEQ using confirmatory factor analysis. Study six tests the factorial structure on an independent sample, examines whether it is invariant across gender, and tests the relationship between the PEEQ and related educational constructs. Overall, the current programme of research has advanced the field of educational psychology by providing greater understanding of the potential stressors experienced during PE lessons, and the dynamic processes by which students respond.

Most organisations operate in a turbulent environment characterised by volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. Disruptive and unpredictable forces of change are key features of this environment and sustainability of organisations has become fragile and unstable. Organisations that are able to grow and thrive within this environment have adaptive capabilities to learn (Ovans, 2005) and adjust faster with more confidence compared to their competitors. Leadership is a decisive influence in the creation of a competitive advantage within thriving organisations. Leaders absorb high levels of turmoil, unpredictability and uncertainty and need to respond to regular shocks and surprises in a productive manner so that the organisation can be responsive to threats and opportunities. The ability of leaders to offer this type of leadership is determined by their own levels of leadership resilience. Leadership resilience is a capability that can increase or diminish depending on the leader’s ability to learn and adapt following unexpected disruptive experiences, continued adverse conditions or while dealing with persistent pressure. Practices associated with self-renewal offer leaders, opportunities to develop disciplined intentional processes of change and adjustment. These are based on a state of awareness regarding one’s level of internal well-being, energy and balance, aimed at replenishing or strengthening resilient qualities and protective factors. Leadership development programmes can make a significant contribution to sustained leadership being effective, by developing personal strengths and strategies that can buttress tough resilience capabilities in leaders. The main research problem in this study was to explore the relationship between leadership resilience and self-renewal practices. To address the main and identified sub-problems, a literature study was conducted focusing on the main components of resilience with specific reference to resilience in leaders, while exploring self-renewal practices that can be used by leaders to improve their resilience. A web-based survey with a questionnaire was administered to a target group consisting of middle and senior managers who have participated in leadership development programmes at the Leadership Academy of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University Business School. The survey was a self-reporting instrument that included the Leadership Resilience Profile developed by Dianne Reed and Jerry Patterson (2009) as well as a section focused on self-renewal practices that included physical, spiritual, cognitive and socio-emotional renewal practices. The results from the empirical study revealed that the levels of leadership resilience are related to the self-renewal practices of leaders. The study identified spiritual self-renewal as most significant to leadership resilience. Higher levels of resilience were demonstrated with regard to value-driven leadership, optimism, courageous decision-making and self-efficacy. Senior managers reported higher levels of self-efficacy as compared to their counterparts at middle level management. The study identified adaptability, perseverance and social support as resilience capabilities that leaders should grow. In general, lower scores were obtained for self-renewal practices than for resilience levels. Leadership development initiatives that integrate resilience capabilities and self-renewal practices will create an adaptive resource within organisations. Supporting the development and maintenance of strong leadership resilience capabilities will contribute to the development of adaptive organisations that are able to navigate turbulent conditions with confidence.

Due to persistent and serious threats from natural disasters around the globe, many have turned to resilience and vulnerability research to guide disaster preparation, recovery, and adaptation decisions. In response, scholars and practitioners have put forth a variety of disaster indices, based on quantifiable metrics, to gauge levels of resilience and vulnerability. However, few indices are empirically validated using observed disaster impacts and, as a result, it is often unclear which index should be preferred for each decision at hand. Thus, we compare and empirically validate five of the top U.S. disaster indices, including three resilience indices and two vulnerability indices. We use observed disaster losses, fatalities, and disaster declarations from the southeastern United States to empirically validate each index. We find that disaster indices, though thoughtfully substantiated by literature and theoretically persuasive, are not all created equal. While four of the five indices perform as predicted in explaining damages, only three explain fatalities and only two explain disaster declarations as expected by theory. These results highlight the need for disaster indices to clearly state index objectives and structure underlying metrics to support validation of the results based on these goals. Further, policymakers should use index results carefully when developing regional policy or investing in resilience and vulnerability improvement projects.

M.A. (Industrial Psychology) / The aim of the research is to explore the impact of the spiritual life dimension on individuals’ personal resilience through the analysis of narratives. The complexity of the global world of business requires individuals to be resilient in order to survive and thrive. Through focusing on spirituality, the study highlights possible tools and techniques that may assist individuals in developing personal resilience. A literature review was conducted in order to describe resilience as recognised in the literature and to define the concept ‘spirituality’. The research method was qualitative in order to allow for depth of understanding and more specifically, a narrative approach provided data in the form of meaningful stories. Purposive sampling was used based on certain criteria with the intention of selecting cases that were best suited to achieve the research objectives. The sample of four professional individuals was small to meet the requirements of in-depth interviews and narrative data analysis. The data collection process explored individuals’ subjective understanding of spirituality and their subjective description of the impact of their spirituality on their resilience. The findings show that purpose and meaning and religion are the main themes used to define spirituality. Common spiritual practices include: prayer, reflection, meditation/contemplation, visualisation, attending church, and following a spiritual routine. These practices result in positivity for the participants in this study. Setbacks and change surfaced as the main examples of situations requiring resilience.

Flooding in New England is often seen as a coastal concern, but inland, in the mountainous rural communities of New England, river floods present serious threats to communities and livelihoods. Recent large storm events such as Tropical Storm Irene, and rising concerns over climate change, have catalyzed conversations over the vulnerability of communities across inland New England to flooding. This thesis examines two very different watershed organizations in New England; the White River Partnership and Deerfield Creating Resilient Communities. Both are working towards flood resilience in their communities. My approach is not to judge “best practices” or to evaluate what is better about one versus the other, but rather to highlight a range of approaches, institutions, policies and applications that enable flood resilience. By examining two very different institutions in depth, I will identify, explain and explore a variety of ways in which regional watershed partnerships can build partnerships and improve local flood resilience.

My study is a sub-study of the Resilient Youth in Stressed Environments (RYSE) Project (ethics clearance, UP17/05/01). The RYSE project focuses on gaining a more thorough understanding of the resilience of youth living in communities that are dependent on the petrochemical industry, as well as the associated risks. The purpose of my qualitative sub-study was to explore how older adolescents from the eMbalenhle community explain resilience in the face of unemployment. The current literature tends to be reliant on academic understandings of resilience. In order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of resilience, it is important to recognise the perspectives of resilience of adolescents who live in a highly stressed environment that is confronted by multiple risks. In order to achieve the purpose of my study, I assumed an interpretivist approach. This approach is appropriate for developing an understanding of adolescents’ individual experiences and perceptions of resilience in a petrochemical community and in the face of unemployment. To guarantee that my question was answered, I utilised a phenomenological research design. The RYSE Project has established a Community Advisory Panel (CAP), and the CAP purposively sampled the participants involved in my study. Seven adolescents (all male) between the ages of 18 and 24 were recruited from eMbalenhle in the Govan Mbeki municipality in Mpumalanga. An Arts-based activity (draw and talk) and an informal group discussion were used to generate data. An inductive, thematic analysis of the data was conducted in order to identify themes. Ungar’s (2011) Social Ecology of Resilience Theory (SERT) provided the theoretical framework for my study. The main themes that emerged from the data, regarding resilience enablers among adolescents in the face of unemployment, were: Having a vision, appropriating opportunities, and drawing on social support. The themes that arose from the adolescents’ explanations of resilience support the SERT. I think these themes are important for educational psychologists who work with adolescents challenged by unemployment in eMbalenhle because they highlight the importance of social support and community in interventions. In addition, these themes provide possible individual strategies, from the perspective of adolescents, that could allow for positive adaptation despite adversity. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / Educational Psychology / MEd / Unrestricted

The dissertation investigates the notion of resilience in the urban environment. The potential for architecture to adapt to the changing contexts. The study focuses on regenerating decayed urban environments using a relationship between architecture and the landscape. / Dissertation (MArch(Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2014. / Architecture / MArch(Prof) / Unrestricted