Pathways to Resilience IV: Global South Perspectives

Networks to Support Community Resilience

Abstract #281
Title: Gendered Social Capital: An Ethnographic Study of Urban Congolese Refugees’ Networks to Improve Community Resilience
Presenter: Julie Tippens (University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA)
Co-Author: Helen Miamidian
Introduction: Community resilience has gained salience in academic disciplines in the past decade, yet research pertaining to refugee community resilience remains scarce. This study explores urban Congolese refugees’ gendered uses of social capital and social networks to promote broader community wellbeing in Nairobi, Kenya.
Methods: I conducted semi-structured interviews (N=27) and ethnographic participant observation with a neighborhood-specific subsample of urban refugees in Nairobi over 12-months (May-August 2012; January-August 2014). Interviews and participant observation took place in formal and informal community meetings, churches, workplaces, and homes. 
Findings: Female refugees typically relied on in-group support while male refugees utilized out-group networks to access resilience resources. There is limited insight into nuanced, gendered uses of networks to promote broader community resilience; such information can inform policies and programs to improve refugees’ wellbeing.  

Abstract #330
Title: Resilience Promoting Factors among Vulnerable Juveniles in Charitable Children Institutions in Dagoretti and Lower Kabete Sub-Counties in Nairobi, Kenya
Presenter: Roseline Olumbe (Daystar University, Kenya)
Co-Authors: Martha Sunda, Sylvia Tuikong
Introduction: Vulnerable juveniles placed in Charitable Institutions face challenges that could lead to multiple negative effects. Adverse maltreatment of children leads to complex challenges that affect the child's mental health. Challenges encountered by such children may affect their resilience capacity needing multiple pathways to enhance resilience
Methods: To establish factors that promote resilience among children in CCIs, a descriptive study is ongoing in 12 shelters purposively sampled from Dagoretti and Lower Kabete Sub-Counties in Nairobi County. These are shelters for vulnerable juveniles that work closely with national child helpline 116 in Kenya. Out of 649 children, 195 resilient children aged 6-13 years were purposively selected using a predetermined checklist. Data collection is ongoing using Focus Group Discussions, Key Informant Interviews and the Child and Youth Resilient Measure (CYRM-26) questionnaire.
Findings: Expected findings are that resilience by children in CCIs results primarily from physical and psychological caregiving. Other resilience promoting factors include the child's personal skills, peer and social support, an environment that enhances spiritual development, positive education and supportive cultural activities 

Abstract #342
The value of a support group in fostering resilience in a correctional facility 
Presenter: Suegnet Smit (North-West University, South Africa)
Introduction: After completion of a Fatherhood programme, inmates expressed a desire to change their lives, but voiced a need for guidance and support.  With limited personal resources, inmates have to find pathways to navigate their way into a “new” and changed life.  
Methods: This research is a qualitative case study design done in the correctional facility with 10 initial inmates that joined the support group.  Although there is a restriction on methods allowed for data generation in correctional facilities, data could be generated through narratives, personal reflections, naïve sketches, worksheets on discussed topics and interviews (noted by using scribes).  
Findings: Findings are pending.