Professor Michael Ungar

Building on Dr. Ungar’s research in more than a dozen countries, this presentation explores how an emerging systemic understanding of resilience can account for how young people cope with experiences of exclusion without engaging in acts of violence. Resilience will be shown to be the result of how well individuals, their families and communities work together to help those who are vulnerable navigate their way to the resources they need for wellbeing, and whether those resources are available in ways that young people experience as meaningful.

Specifically, Dr. Ungar will discuss seven factors that contribute to the resilience of refugee and immigrant youth as well as young people who have experienced historical oppression. His work suggests the need for an ecological, culturally sensitive interpretation of what resilience means to youth and young adults who must cope with social and political unrest, marginalization and racism. Dr. Ungar will discuss each of the seven factors associated with resilience along with strategies individuals and social institutions have used to make resilience-promoting resources more available and accessible, including an innovative measure (the YRVE) developed in collaboration with Dr. Michele Grossman that assesses youth resilience to violent extremism.