Abstract
The vulnerability of young people raised by alcohol-misusing caregivers is widely acknowledged in the global literature. It tends to be compounded by various forms of physical, emotional and sexual abuse, neglect and abandonment. Yet, despite these adversities, it is not unusual for some young people to achieve better-than-expected outcomes as they transition into young adulthood. The study demonstrates how interactional resilience processes between university undergraduate students raised in alcohol-misusing environments in Lesotho and the multisystemic resources (human and nonhuman) in their social ecology contributed to better outcomes. Active engagement with their social ecology proved to be central in facilitating resilient outcomes in National University of Lesotho undergraduate students raised by alcohol-abusing caregivers. The aim of this study, therefore, is to explore the interactional resilience processes that facilitate resilient outcomes among students who were raised by alcohol-misusing caregivers.
Four main objectives drove this study: (1) to explore the interactions between university students raised by alcohol-abusing caregivers with nonhuman systems to understand what nonhuman systems they engaged with and how the interactions worked as processes that promoted better-than-expected outcomes; (2) to explore the interactions of university students raised by alcohol-abusing caregivers with people in their environment who initiated support that enriched their resilience; (3) to explore the self-initiated help-seeking interactions between university students raised by alcohol-abusing caregivers and people in the social ecology; and (4) to explore the sharing of similar experiences between university students raised by alcohol-abusing caregivers and people in their social environment as interactions that contributed to resilient outcomes. The thesis is structured as a set of four journal articles, with introductory and concluding chapters and brief introductions to each article.
Using purposive and snowball sampling, 15 students were selected, aged between 20 and 27 years, nine females and six males, and doing relatively well in some way, including academically, and not abusing substances. Three face-to-face in-depth interviews were conducted with each participant, together with the draw-write-and-tell visual technique. Constructivist grounded theory methods were used to analyse the data.
For the first objective, data were collected from participants who described their resilience to be enhanced through internal conversations with nonhuman systems. In this objective, nonhuman systems were found to be significant resilience resources, particularly the internal interactions that take place during those moments when the individual needs support and there is no person to provide that support. This objective is the basis of Article 1 in this thesis. The three other objectives (2 to 4),
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bring to the fore the significance of human-to-human interactional processes in enhancing resilience in young people raised by alcohol-misusing caregivers. The second objective, addressed in Article 2, examines how interactions between students and other people who initiated help when they saw a need and the receptiveness of these young people in receiving the support enabled them to achieve better outcomes. The third objective, which is addressed in Article 3, explores the importance of help-seeking interactions, whereby participants reached out for support from significant others in their social ecology who were willing to provide the needed help, and how these interactions helped them to achieve better outcomes. Finally, the fourth objective explored the significance of interactional processes of sharing adverse situations with other people who also experienced either similar or different adverse situations that improved these students’ resilience. This objective is addressed in Article 4.
This study is useful in several ways. First, through empirical data, the study has contributed to both the development of the concept of interactional resilience and to the general body of literature on resilience, thus making great strides towards the building of resilience theory, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Second, the study has successfully brought to the fore and enhanced our understanding of those resilience enablers, some of them unique, of young people raised by alcohol-misusing caregivers. Third, the study is an important information kit for state and non-state actors such as policymakers, academics, social practitioners and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) who are interested in improving the resilience of at-risk young people raised in alcohol-misusing situations. Finally, the study points out to the need for further research that deploys an interactional resilience approach, in order to further understand interactional processes that are capable of enhancing resilience that engenders better-than-expected outcomes in other adverse situations.