Assessment - Dixon Chapter 17 | Assignment

Running Head: Dixon Chapte 17
Assessment
Dixon Chapter 17

Dixon Chapter 17
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Part 1: Introduction
Background
Werner and Smith, through their longitudinal study traced the resilience in children born and
reared at Kauai Island, from the year 1955 and after that. The island had gone tremendous
change during its transition from agricultural economy to tourism based industrial economy.
They wanted to identify whether the children can withstand the stress under these conditions.
They documented the course of all pregnancies on the island and their outcomes from birth to
40 years of age. They assessed the long term consequences of prenatal trauma, poverty,
adverse conditions of rearing and parental psychopathology in their adaptation to life.
The study involved a cohort of 698 children born in 1955 on Kauai Island. The children were
evaluated 9 times from birth to 40 years of age with different type of assessment depending on
the age of child.
Controversy of Studying Resilience
Nearly 30% of the children who encountered psychological and biological risk factors by the
age of 2 years had developed unplanned pregnancies or mental health issues by the age of 10
years. However, one third of (vulnerable but invincible) children became successful in their
adult age despite the severe odds. They turned out into confident, caring and competent adults.
This can be termed as a controversy in resilience that similar psychological conditions
strengthen some people, while weaken the others.
Disadvantaged children and troubled youth can escape their negative life experiences by
adopting buffering characteristics during adult age. Like being busy at work or enrolled in

Dixon Chapter 17
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school, having satisfaction in relationships with mate or peer, good relationship with their
family members, siblings and the appropriate emotional support to be provided at childhood
and young age.
The essay finds that the personal and environmental factors effectively contribute to life
success and long term well being of the individuals. The personal factors which promote
resilience are autonomy, scholastic competence, health status, temperament and self efficacy.
The environmental factors contributing to resilience are maternal competence, the number of
stressful life events experienced by the people and emotional support at the childhood,
adolescence and adulthood age (Department of Human Services Huwaii, 2018).
Part 2
The family planning in at risk families involve the family programs which foster evaluation,
visitations, transitional and treatment services, general and family adoptive counseling, birth
mother counseling, advocacy for mothers and families (St.Mary primary School, 2012)
 Should we encourage fewer children in at risk families?
What should be the number of children for the at risk families depends largely on their
ethnicity and cultural beliefs. However, we can encourage the at risk families to be have
fewer children as more number of children increases the chances of poverty in family. Small
families can are financially better and are able to provide all the personal, emotional and
environmental support to their children so that they could not suffer hardships and stressful
conditions in their life.