John Coleman and Ann Hagell (Eds): Adolescence, Risk and Resilience: Against the Odds

In Adolescence, Risk and Resilience: Against the Odds, John Coleman and Ann Hagell compile an impressive group of chapters to support their view that adolescence is a period that should be framed positively. The purpose of the book was to explore the concept of risk and resilience and to outline various ways in which these topics relate to the period of adolescence. The editors focus on four ways to consider the term risk: risk factors, risk behavior, young people at risk, and young people who pose a risk to society. The editors’ collection show how, although many adolescents are confronted with risk and adversity, they may still become resilient to these difficulties by implementing protective factors in their lives and making positive adjustments after exposure to significant risk or adversity. The persuasive evidence and clear presentation of this book make it evident that professionals will indeed have greater success when working with at risk youth if they emphasize their strengths and positive abilities. However, generalizing a policy or practice that strives to emphasize only the good in all adolescents who have experienced adversities may not always be the most effective procedure, depending on youth and their circumstances (see Sullivan et al. 2010; Wright et al. 2010). According to research findings on evaluations of positive youth development programs, youth development practitioners, policy makers, and prevention scientists have reached the same conclusions about stimulating better outcomes for youth. They call for expanding programs that focus on a multitude of problem behaviors and consider both the positive and negative behavior of each individual. Because the same risk and protective factors that studies have shown predict problem behaviors are also important in predicting positive outcomes, it is necessary to consider both the positive and negative experiences of youth (Catalano et al. 1998) as well as their social environments (see Cleveland et al. 2010). However, the editors have structured this book extremely well, and offered many beneficial suggestions for using a positive approach in intervening in the lives of youth. By using the approaches suggested in the chapters of this book, policy makers and development practitioners will promote social, emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and moral competence. Chapter 1 describes the terms risk and resilience, and what they can mean for troubled adolescents. Because the term resilience has come to denote different ideas, the authors attempt to define resilience clearly in the context of this book. The authors first pair risk and resilience as they argue that one cannot consider the resilience of a particular adolescent without first considering the risks they have come up against. Protective factors, such as strong familial relationships and communication, help to ensure adolescent resilience. However, rarely does only one risk or protective factor make a large difference. Rather, it is the cumulative effects of both risk and protective factors that most significantly determine whether the adolescent will become resilient. Also, risk is different in its nature. For example, one can be exposed to long-term chronic risk or acute trauma. According to the authors, it is necessary to experience some degree of risk in order to develop resilience. Without risk, they question whether there is a need for resilience. The authors persuasively describe resilience as dynamic process. Because resilience arises as a result of the interaction between protective factors and risk, it is a process rather than a personality characteristic. They further argue that resilience should not be viewed as something one has or does not have; it is not an outcome. Many types of A. Bechtel (&) Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA e-mail: bechtela@umail.iu.edu