Choices and Lessons from Building Resilience in the Community

This article discusses the choices made and lessons learned from a game on building resilience in the community, focusing on the impact on children living in poverty and the choices parents must make daily.

Running head: PSYCHOLOGY
Psychology
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PSYCHOLOGY
Choices I made and what I have learned from the game
In the game of building resilience in the community, I made various decisions that I
thought would benefit the children. One of the choices I made was to open a local clinic for
medical care in the community. However, the response I got was different from various groups
of children in society. The choice would not be much beneficial to a child who comes from a
well-off family that can afford quality health care, but it is much essential to a child from a
family living in low standards according to Wilson & Wilson, (2017). At the end of the
simulation I got was that the choice had a more positive impact on poor children while it has a
more detrimental effect to well off families. Another decision was to reduce neighborhood crime
through community policing. The action had a tremendous positive impact on children from
wealthy families as compared to needy children.
The lesson I learn from the simulation is that the status of the child’s family dictates the need of
the child. Children from a well-off family may not have the same urgency as compared to
children from a poor background.
How what I learned in the simulation affect my ideas about children living in poverty, and
the choices parents must make daily.
The lesson I learned from the simulation of children living in poverty is that they need a
lot of understanding when it comes to their needs before making a decision in reference to Hair,
Hanson, Wolfe & Pollak, (2015). The parent needs to make tough choices in life to ensure that
these children have the same opportunity as rich families. If the parents make a mistake during
the choice making, it tampers with the crucial part of the child’s life.
How poverty affects the development

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PSYCHOLOGY
Poverty affects development in multiple ways. One of the effects of poverty is that it
limits the choices an individual can make with little resources available according to Blair, C., &
Raver, (2016). For example, the case of children living in poverty, if the parent decides to go for
security through community public policing, the children will miss health care and education. If
one uses the simulation to make such a choice, the outcome of the game with being that there are
a lot of negative impacts as compared to the negative results. Poverty makes the children develop
lacking some crucial matters in life for instance quality health care, quality education, clothing,
food among others. The group of people that the children from a poor background are also
limited because they feel bored as a result of the lack of some materials members have in the
group.
What society can do about poverty
One of the main steps that society can take to fight poverty is to embrace the spirit of
brotherhood. In this case, the well-off families should be ready to help the less fortunate families
with the excess materials they have such as food, clothing and financial support. Another way is
to empower those people living in poverty through employment according to Walsh, (2015).
Having a job will assist the people to raise money and be able to cater for their daily needs
without depending on others for support.

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PSYCHOLOGY
References
Blair, C., & Raver, C. C. (2016). Poverty, stress, and brain development: New directions for
prevention and intervention. Academic pediatrics, 16(3), S30-S36.
Hair, N. L., Hanson, J. L., Wolfe, B. L., & Pollak, S. D. (2015). Association of child poverty,
brain development, and academic achievement. JAMA pediatrics, 169(9), 822-829.
Walsh, F. (2015). Strengthening family resilience. Guilford Publications.
Wilson, C., & Wilson, P. (2017). Make poverty business: increase profits and reduce risks by
engaging with the poor. Routledge.