Coping diversity

The evidence for diversity in adaptive coping as a pathway to resilience was obtained in two South African rural communities. The research sites had to fulfil two criteria. Firstly, there had to be chronic adversity and high need which will demand continuous coping. Both research sites faced chronic adversity such as poverty, unemployment, chronic illness such as HIV/AIDS, illiteracy, limited access to education and health services. Natural resources such as water were also a problem.

This Guide provides information to help teachers work more effectively with their local communities. While the research was undertaken in South Africa, it is expected that many teachers will find that the advice about how to understand and work with local communities is transferable to their context.  

Throughout your use of the MESHGuide remind yourself of the following:

This MESHGuide creates awareness of the diversity in ways people cope with adversity. Stress forms part of people’s daily lives irrespective of age, gender and culture. However people do not necessarily respond to stress in the same manner. Differences in coping behaviours have been ascribed to variables related to the type of adversity people face, people’s culture, their age, gender as well as the type of environment they live in. Another variable to consider in coping is the different functions of these behaviours.

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The study “Indigenous pathways to adaptive coping” formed part of the Indigenous Pathways to Resilience (IPR) project under the leadership of Prof Liesel Ebersöhn. The aforementioned project was conducted under the aegis of the Centre for the Study of Resilience, University of Pretoria in South Africa. Participatory Reflection and Action (PRA) was used in a longitudinal comparative case study to generate knowledge on indigenous pathways to resilience.

The reference for the doctorate study which inspired this MESHGuide is: