NPR

How Do Refugee Teens Build Resilience?

We often think of resilience as something that comes from within. Syrian youngsters have a different perspective.
Syrian refugees at the Zaatari refugee camp on the Jordanian border on 31 May 2017.

What does it mean to be resilient — to be able to face trauma and get through it?

You're resilient if you're like a stick of bamboo — able to bend with the winds rather than break in half. That's how psychologists like to explain it.

But in different cultures, the source of that strength can be very different. That's the finding in a published in the journal . The researchers interviewed Syrian tweens and teens who had been displaced because of war.

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from NPR

NPR3 min read
After Years Of Documenting Jewish Food Traditions, Joan Nathan Focuses On Her Family's
Joan Nathan has spent her life exploring in the kitchen, but for the Passover Seder, she sticks with a menu that follows her own family's traditions.
NPR2 min readCrime & Violence
Justice Department Pays $138 Million Over FBI Failures In Larry Nassar Case
The DOJ settlement goes to 139 victims of Larry Nassar, the disgraced team doctor of USA Gymnastics who sexually assaulted elite and Olympic gymnasts, after the FBI failed to promptly investigate.
NPR2 min read
Gaza Solidarity Protests Sweep U.S. Colleges; SCOTUS Tackles Starbucks Union Case
Tensions are high as campus protests over the war in Gaza stretch across the U.S. The Supreme Court will hear a case about pro-union Starbucks employees.

Related Books & Audiobooks