Resolución de conflictos desde la resiliencia: El caso de los jóvenes extutelados en Colombia

Abstract

At the moment of their exit from the protection system, the youth face a number of conflicts. This helps to develop ways to resolve them, which in some cases, results in the appearance of the resilience. This study’s goal was, precisely, to identify the degree, the factors, and the characteristics and sources of resilience used to face conflicts by Colombian youth leaving the foster care system. A mixed design was used with a concurrent triangulation strategy. A total of 53 youth, which had been under protection for at least two years and had left the system being of legal age, took part of the study. The instruments used were the resilience scale RS-25 and the phenomenological interview. The data from the scale was processed from descriptive statistics through SPSS and the data from the interview from open and axial coding through Atlas Ti. The results showed how this group presented a moderately high level of resilience, getting the best score on the factor of personal competence and features such as: independence, self-trust and persistence. They used sources as reflection and change, network building, spiritual life, work and education and the support from professionals to resolve problematic situations. The findings are key for interventions, which can be developed by professionals for this youth group and others with similar characteristics.