Well-Being, Resilience and Quality of Life from Children’s Perspectives. A Contextualized Approach

Abstract

What constitutes a good life In childhood after a natural disaster? How do children view their well-being and how do they negotiate caregivers with restrictions and hope? Silvia Exenberger's and Barbara Juen's book Well-Being, Resilience and Quality of Life from Children's Perspectives: A Contextualized Approach offers an innovative view on child well-being in the light of resources as well as In the light of the vulnerability in childhood. Its topic on children and caregivers in the post-Tsunami regions and their concepts of what constitutes a good life for children is an important issue In the general field of child well-being. At the beginning, the Authors explore the broad view on child well-being and the quality of life research. As a result, the contributions to the first part of the book represent the entire spectrum of topics in the international discussion: the first concern is the conceptual issues, the second Is the measurement of differences within one heterogeneous nation by looking at, for example, childhood in rural regions and comparing it to a childhood in metropolitan areas, the third Is international comparisons, the fourth is the Influence of data-based research on policymaking, the fifth Is the fundamental question regarding which domains exert the greatest influence on child well-being in order to draw conclusions on where policy should intervene, and finally the sixth is the need to ask the children themselves. But this book decisively makes clear how a disaster like the Tsunami in 2004, confronts us with completely other questions on resilience, well-being, and vulnerability. It makes clear that these concepts only can be understood considering the social and ecological context of the concerned children and caregivers. Finally, we have to discuss with respect to this excellent study whether research can and should fulfill the function of helping to represent the interests of children on the basis of data, particularly when based on quantitative and qualitative surveys of children as the experts on themselves. The orientation toward children's rights of access to all areas of society plays a strong role in the development of the child well-being approach. One element is asking the children themselves, and even younger children. We need more case-studies in this sense of context-sensitivity and a strong interest in children's concepts on well-being in such circumstances like in the post-Tsunami regions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)