Positioning resilience science more centrally in affirming LGBTIQA+ persons and communities

Abstract

Historically, in psychology, there was a tendency towards focusing on the individual and intrapsychic pathologisation of LGBTIQA+ persons. Despite a recent shift to affirmative, systemic, interpersonal, and contextual stances, too much emphasis in South African LGBTIQA+ scholarly work remains on adversity. Adversity derived from historical tensions may have accelerated adaptive problem-solving capabilities and solution-focused behaviours in some LGBTIQA+ populations. Certain solutions have generated creative resilience responses inexorably situated in race, ethnicity, culture, religion, gender, history, political oppression, and social class. Resilience science that has similarly evolved from the individual trait conceptualisation may have an important complementary contribution to make in affirming LGBTIQA+ persons and communities and enhancing the understanding of their resilience. Exploring resilience for wellbeing and survival addresses the infinite streams of human experiences of vulnerability and sustainable adaptive solutions. The multisystemic resilience perspective in this article endeavours to summarise current thinking in resilience science and position its applicability to future South African LGBTIQA+ scholarly work, building on existing systematic and critical reviews relating to the resilience of LGBTIQA+ persons. The aim of this position piece, suggesting the expansion of a ‘resilience’ frame, is to offer an important intervention in the overarching ways in which South African scholars and psychology professionals theorise and conduct research; to inform therapeutic and other psychological services to LGBTIQA+ persons and provide an important counterweight to the more general focus in South African LGBTIQA+ scholarship and psychological practice on adversity.