Conclusions
Our empirical understanding of the development of children residing in our country’s inner cities is growing. What is emerging is a grim picture of the level and extent of risk faced by these children and their families. At the same time, there is evidence of strong family functioning that helps mitigate these risks. In addition, it appears that family functioning can be aided by neighborhood networks and growing opportunities and resources to manage normal child development. As we have noted, there are many opportunities for building resilience by building family strengths in these high-risk communities. However, few have explored the potential of these avenues and even fewer have conducted empirical tests of their impact.
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Gorman-Smith, D., Tolan, P., Henry, D. (2005). Promoting Resilience in the Inner City. In: Peters, R.D., Leadbeater, B., McMahon, R.J. (eds) Resilience in Children, Families, and Communities. Springer, Boston, MA . https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-23824-7_9
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