Entry requirements
This course is an elective and open to bachelor students from all faculties. There are no specific admission requirements, but students should be familiar with social science research or should familiarise themselves in preparation for this course.
Please note that the 10 EC elective Victims and offenders of violence in semester 1 is linked to this course. We advise students to follow the course ‘Victims and offenders of violence’ if they are also interested in following this course (Resilience to violence).
Description
The Covid-19 pandemic illustrates the importance of our ability to cope well with stressors, our ability to show resilience. Resilience denotes the ability of an organism to adapt to changing environments and cope with environmental challenges by shifting within its normal operating range. Resilience in humans refers to our ability to positively adapt following a stressor. Resilience arises from complex interactions of factors that reside within the body (e.g. the hormonal systems, the brain, genetic influences) as well as outside the body (e.g. family support, teaching environment, cultural resources).
In this course we will discuss the historical background of resilience, whilst discussing key studies and experiences (such as the COVID Pandemic) and their effects on the effects on children and young people. We will introduce the various definitions used to describe resilience, and how they have evolved over time in the past 50 years. We will then discuss why some children and young people who experience trauma or stress show resilience, whereas others do not. We do so by discussing the factors and mechanisms that are known to aid resilience and discuss all levels of the bio-ecological level including key neurobiological mechanisms (genetic profiles, brain mechanisms), psychological factors and interventions aimed at these levels. We will further discuss the critical importance of the social environment, specifically the importance of family environments, friendships with peers, the school environment and we will discuss how resilience can be shaped by cultural and global efforts. In doing so we will discuss the mechanisms that aid resilience, as well as interventions that have been developed to promote resilience in young people.
Course objectives
After completion of the course, students will be able to:
Discuss the historical and theoretical development in the resilience field with relevance to education and child studies. Have knowledge of hallmark studies and cases of resilience after trauma.
Discuss the contemporary theoretical frameworks for the study of resilience
Detail why some individuals who experience adversity go on to show resilience whilst others do not.
Discuss how we can help protects of people who experience adversity or threat.
Discuss the neurobiological mechanisms that aid resilience after stress, keeping in mind the differential mechanisms that aid resilience to acute vs chronic stress, or resilience in adolescence and childhood.
Discuss the importance of taking a complexity perspective in mechanisms of resilience.
Discuss the important influences that facilitate resilience from a cultural/societal/global perspective, and what is needed to shape resilient societies.
Discuss the challenges young people face in the online world and how we can better protect them.
Discuss what the future of research on resilience looks like.
Timetable
For the timetable of this course please refer to MyTimetable
Registration
NOTE As of the academic year 2021-2022, you must register for all courses in uSis.
You do this twice a year: once for the courses you want to take in semester 1 and once for the courses you want to take in semester 2.
Registration for courses in the first semester is possible from July. The exact date on which the registration starts will be published on the website of the Student Service Center (SSC)
The registration period for all courses closes five calendar days before the start of the course.
By registering for a course you are also automatically registered for the Brightspace module and for the first sit of the exam of that course. Anyone who is not registered for a course therefore does not have access to the Brightspace module and cannot participate in the first sit of the exam of that course.
Also read the complete registration procedure
Mode of instruction
8 2-hour online lectures and guest lecturers in English. They outline the main concepts and illustrate them using examples from clinical and/or research practice. Scientific papers form the basis of the study material but the material from the lectures is also part of the exam literature, so attendance is highly recommended.
Assessment method
Weekly online quiz with 10 questions at start at every lecture, not necessary for grading, but to promote active learning.
Forum discussions based on statements on Brightspace, not mandatory for grading.
Written exam (MC + essay questions).
Reading list:
Scientific and review papers.
Lectures (sheets).
Contact information
A. van Harmelen
A. van Harmelen violence@fgga.leidenuniv.nl