The number of children living in families with incomes below the federal poverty level increased by 33 percent between 2000 and 2009, resulting in over 15 million children living in poverty. Some of these children are able to overcome this dark statistic and break the intergenerational transmission of poverty, offering hope to an otherwise bleak outlook, but this raises the question--how? In Fostering Resilience and Well-Being in Children and Families in Poverty, Dr. Valerie Maholmes sheds light on the mechanisms and processes that enable children and families to manage and overcome adversity. She explains that research findings on children and poverty often unite around three critical factors related to risk for poverty-related adversity: family structure, the presence of buffers that can protect children from negative influences, and the association between poverty and negative academic outcomes, and social and behavioral problems. She discusses how the research on resilience can inform better interventions for these children, as poverty does not necessarily preclude children from having strengths that may protect against its effects. Importantly, Maholmes introduces the concept of "hope" as a primary construct for understanding how the effects of poverty can be ameliorated. At the heart of the book are interviews with family members who have experienced adversity but managed to overcome it through the support of targeted programs and evidence-based interventions. Student leaders provide unique perspectives on the important role that parents and teachers play in motivating youth to succeed. Finally, professionals who work with children and families share their observations on effective interventions and the roles of culture and spirituality in fostering positive outcomes. Excerpts from these interviews bring research to life and help call attention to processes that promote hope and resilience. This book will be invaluable for policymakers, educators, and community and advocacy groups, as well as scholars and students in family studies, human development, and social work.
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In Fostering Resilience and Well-Being in Children and Families in Poverty, Dr. Valerie Maholmes sheds light on the mechanisms and processes that enable children and families to manage and overcome adversity.
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Preface ; Foreword by Elijah Cummings ; Acknowledgments ; About the Author ; Chapter 1: Hope: The Motivation to Overcome Adversity ; Chapter 2: Thriving in Adversity: Toward a Framework of Hope, Optimism, and Resilience ; Chapter 3: Wired for Hope?: Examining our Capacity for Recovery, Renewal, and Resilience ; Chapter 4: Parenting and Family Matters: Contrasting Parenting and Family Processes - Examining Family Strengths and Assets ; Chapter 5: Do You Believe in Me? : Promoting Hope through Quality Education and Opportunities to Learn ; Chapter 6: Friends and Mentors: The Protective Power of Relationships ; Chapter 7: Empowering Neighborhoods and Communities to Foster Resilience ; Chapter 8: Hope, Optimism, and Resilience: Cultural Frames of Reference ; Chapter 9: Hope in Action: Stories of Overcoming, Motivation, and Striving toward Well-Being ; Chapter 10: Why Hope (Still) Matters ; References ; Index
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The stories in the book illustrate how by fostering hope of a different life in young people they can, with support, use the resources around them, however scarce, to lift themselves out of poverty.

Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9780199959525
Publisert
2014
Utgiver
Vendor
Oxford University Press Inc
Vekt
454 gr
Høyde
238 mm
Bredde
163 mm
Dybde
24 mm
Aldersnivå
P, 06
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Innbundet
Antall sider
240

Forfatter

Biographical note

Dr. Valerie Maholmes has devoted her career to studying factors that affect child developmental outcomes. Low-income minority children have been a particular focus of her research, practical, and civic work. She has been a faculty member at the Yale Child Study Center in the Yale School of Medicine where she held the Irving B. Harris Assistant Professorship of Child Psychiatry, an endowed professorial chair. While at Yale Dr. Maholmes worked in numerous capacities including Director of Research and Policy at the School Development Program. She has served on numerous professional boards and was also a member of the New Haven Board of Education where she served as Vice President/Secretary.