Constructions and Deconstructions of Risk, Resilience and Wellbeing: A Model for Understanding the Development of Aboriginal Adolescents

Abstract

A developmental framework for understanding issues of risk, resilience, and wellness among Aboriginal adolescents in Canada and elsewhere is presented. As these constructs are not monolithic, simplistic linear risk models of a specific predictor to a specific outcome are inadequate to conceptually capture the complexities of real-life patterns. Accordingly, the conceptual focus is on ideal constructions of competence within the context of continually ongoing transactions in which the adolescents effect and are effected by the various layers and components of the environment. However, the pragmatics of empirical research necessitate simpler approaches in which outcomes are predicted from specific factors. Nonetheless, in keeping with the notion of the complexity of all individuals, competence and wellness are viewed within the framework of the 'whole child' across domains of academic success, behavioural competence and appropriateness, social adaptation, and emotional health within the context of the specific community. Although Aboriginal communities within Quebec, across Canada, the United States and elsewhere, differ considerably with regard to history, culture, language, and priorities for its youth, this approach allows for the universal application of a framework, for which specifics can be modified in relation to the unique and changing aspects of societies, communities, and the individuals within.