A Talent for Life: Reflections on Human Vulnerability and Resilience

Abstract

This article explores the limitations of the dominant psychological trauma model. Drawing on the experiences and the aftermaths of chronic ‘states of emergency ‘ among shantytown families in rural Northeast Brazil, among hunted street kids in urban Brazil, and among revolutionaries and warriors of different political stripes following the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa, I identify several features of human resilience, the sources of strength, toughness, hardiness, and relative immunity from personal and psychological collapse that we have come to associate with exposure to a variety of human calamities. We need to rethink our notions of trauma, violence and its sequalae.

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