Abstract
This study regards the development of children growing up in a predominantly creole (black) disadvantaged neighborhood in Paramaribo, Suriname. Some of these children appear to harbor sufficient strength to become socially well-adjusted citizens. Apparently, they are resilient. This study presents an overview of theoretical insights and research findings concerning the
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central questions of (juvenile) criminality, social vulnerability, pro-social and anti-social behavior, and resilience. Resilience theories come in two varieties: Catalano and Hawkins’s (1996) model of social development and Meeuws’s (1994) psycho-social approach. The neighborhood’s relative ethnic homogeneity may be explained by its origins and by the social structure of the creole segment, characterized by economic weakness, low levels of income and education, and a large proportion of families that are incomplete by Western standards. A considerable number of geographical and social problems set Half Flora apart unfavorably from the rest of the administrative division and from the rest of the city. Half Flora is a concentration of (juvenile) crime; poverty and drug use, with little parental supervision. The data show children whose behavior is evaluated positively far more often than negatively. Girls as a group score quite a bit higher than boys. On average the children are found to be vulnerable on 35,8% of nine indicators. As a group boys are somewhat more vulnerable. The greatest predictive value (statistically significant) is found for four vulnerability indicators: not using the Dutch language outside of school; living in an unsafe pedagogical environment; limited education of the head of the family; and lack of warmth in relationships at home. Growing up in a matrifocal family or household does not automatically imply behavioral problems. Predictably, the most anti-social group of 25 children performs far worse in overcoming their vulnerability than the most pro-social group of 25 children. Resilience manifests itself through achieving the same (good) average results for pro-social behavior as other children under much worse conditions. A surprising discrepancy in resilience was found between children from Roman Catholic families and children from ‘evangelical Christian’ families, with the children from the traditional creole EBGS families in between. Moreover, children from maroon families were disproportionately represented in the most resilient group of children. During the early months of 2008 the opportunity presented itself to conduct a small supplementary study among the children of both extreme resilience groups. The most resilient group shows less increase of the number of repeated or missed school years than the least resilient group and these children progress relatively more often to secondary education and specifically to comprehensive education, aimed more at academic growth than at vocational preparation. Resilience does not so much amount to achieving more or performing better under equal conditions of vulnerability, but rather amounts to achieving the best average results under the worst average conditions. This is fully confirmed by the high degree of conformity found on so many points in the supplemental study.
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