Promotion of resiliency in children in social vulnerability: an approach from positive psychology

Abstract

The present chapter presents the concept of resilience based on person's resources and that of social vulnerability as a context at risk for child development and especially for brain development. The characteristics of resilient children and the possibilities of generate those resources in all children at risk will be analyzed through the revision of two great works on resiliency developed in Latin America: that done by the Van Leer Foundation that involved four programs developed in three Andean zones (Chile, Peru and Argentina) and in the shantytowns in Maranhão, Brazil; and another developed with the support of CONICET and the Argentina Ministry of Science, Technology, and Productive Innovation , in children in high risk situations of urban marginality.