Using an ecological framework, this study investigated how the resilience-related concepts of competence, adversity, and protective factors were defined by Colombian immigrant youth living in Canada. Ten Colombian immigrant youth, aged 14 to 19 years, were interviewed about their perceptions of ‘doing well’, the main challenges they experienced after arriving in Canada, and the factors that helped them overcome their major challenges. Qualitative thematic analysis was used to analyze the youth’s responses. Youth described how familism played a central role in the perceptions of competence and doing well. It was also found that the main challenges that were reported were general experiences of immigration and the difficulties of adapting into the new cultural environment and not to cultural discrepancies or clashes of values and beliefs. These youth talked about a range of protective factors, which included meaningful relationships (i.e., family, peers, God), individual factors (i.e., coping strategies, change in mindset, personal qualities, previous experiences, setting goals, and language brokering) and environmental factors (i.e., media, school environment, extracurricular activities, and community).
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:OGU.10214/6650 |
| Date | 08 May 2013 |
| Creators | Cabal Garces, Maria |
| Contributors | Chuang, Susan |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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