The Resilient Child Preparing Today's Youth For Tomorrow's World

by Joseph, Joanne A.

• ISBN13: 9780738205687
• ISBN10: 0738205680
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-08-16
• Publisher: Da Capo Press

Summary

If you try to identify the basic qualities of a child "most likely to succeed" as an adult, what words might first come to mind? Independent? Likable? Creative? Disciplined? According to Dr. Joanne Joseph, the essence of a productive and healthy personality is a positive and secure self-image and a solid set of resilient attitudes and behaviors. The Resilient Child: Preparing Today's Youth for Tomorrow's Worldsuccessfully integrates the latest information available about healthy cognitive development, self-esteem, and resilience to give parents and teachers practical suggestions for nurturing these qualities in children and adolescents. Dr. Joseph, an esteemed psychologist and child education consultant, skillfully shows how stories, television, nutrition, exercise, parental discipline style, and the child's individual characteristics each play a comprehensive role in the development of a child's self-esteem and resilience. With the author's clearly outlined strategies, parents and educators can guide children to be socially skillful, responsible, disciplined, good problem-solvers, and effective managers of the change and adversity inherent in today's world. Elaborating beyond what others have identified as the elements of a productive personality, Dr. Joseph uses a series of inspiring anecdotes and documented research to discuss the following: what experts do and do not know about the development of self-esteem; how parents and teachers can actively contribute to the natural development of a child's self-esteem; how to promote resilience in children through happy and difficult times; the kinds of characteristics that differentiate children from each other; how to liberate a child's inner strengths to build self-esteem and resilience; how literature and the media can teach resilient and productive values and behaviors; styles of parental discipline and their influence on the development of the child; and more.

Author Biography

Joanne M. Joseph, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the State University of New York Institute of Technology at Rome/Utica, New York, where she teaches courses in psychology. The author of many scholarly publications, Dr. Joseph is a licensed psychologist and maintains a private practice. She was a recent recipient of the Chancellor's Award for Exellence in Teaching and regularly provides consultative services to area schools, hospitals, and community agencies. The author lives with her husband and three children in Clinton, New York.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. vii
Preface	p. xi
Acknowledgments	p. xv
Self-Esteem	p. 1
Self-Esteem Defined	p. 2
The Development of Self-Esteem	p. 5
Self-Esteem Enhancers	p. 10
Resilience	p. 25
Traits of the Resilient Personality	p. 27
Resiliency Enhancers	p. 33
Sizing Up Your Child	p. 45
Temperament	p. 46
Temperamental Differences between Children	p. 51
Fitting the Environment to Temperament	p. 54
Learning Style Differences between Children	p. 59
Stress Tolerance Levels and Triggers	p. 63
Stress Assessment	p. 73
Aptitude Assessment	p. 76
Promoting Self-Esteem and Resilience: the Role of Parenting	p. 95
Components of Good Parenting: Parental Discipline Styles	p. 95
Components of Good Parenting: Positive Discipline	p. 102
Components of Good Parenting: Constructive Communication	p. 117
Components of Good Parenting: Focus on the Parent	p. 122
Components of Good Parenting: Management of the Difficult Child	p. 127
Stories: A Natural Way to Teach Resilient Values and Attitudes	p. 135
The Power behind Stories	p. 136
Story Features and Forms	p. 138
Analyzing the Message in Stories	p. 140
Extracting Themes of Resilience from Stories	p. 145
The Use of Personal Stories	p. 152
Visual Media Stories: The Impact of Television and Movies	p. 155
Teaching Children to Cope: The Role of Relaxation, Nutrition, and Exercise	p. 157
The Stress Response and the Relaxation Response	p. 157
Relaxation Exercises	p. 161
Nutrition and Exercise	p. 180
Teaching Children to Think Constructively	p. 191
Language, Thinking, and Your Child's Behavior	p. 193
Beliefs, Thinking, and Your Child's Behavior	p. 197
Thinking Errors and Your Child's Behavior	p. 202
Age, Maturity, and Thinking	p. 205
The Influence of the Situation on Thinking and Behavior	p. 208
Attributions, Thinking, and Behavior	p. 210
The Pragmatics of Constructive Thinking	p. 212
Summary	p. 226
Teaching Children to Make Good Decisions	p. 227
The Decision-Making Process	p. 227
Self-Control	p. 239
Developmental Changes in Decision-Making Capabilities	p. 245
Parents as Promoters of Good Decision Making	p. 250
Cultivating Social Skills in Your Child	p. 253
Types of Social Skills	p. 254
Summing it All Up	p. 271
A Resilient Approach to Competition and Mistakes	p. 274
A Resilient Approach for Dealing with Loss or Disaster	p. 276
Conclusion	p. 280
Bibliography	p. 281
Suggested Readings	p. 291
Sample Behavioral Contract	p. 295
Stories with Resilient Themes	p. 297
Index	p. 349
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