Narratives, Religion, and Trumatic Life Events Among Young Adults

Abstract

This paper contributes to the growing sociological interest in resilience by using a virtue ethics framework to examine distinct ways young adults respond to stressful life events. Based on interviews with 26 young adults in nine U.S. states, I argue that resilience differs from coping. Coping implies people have mitigated the negative effects of a traumatic event. I define resilience as a dynamic process oriented toward a telos that encompasses both personal wellbeing and contribution to the common good. Although we know that strong interpersonal, community and spiritual ties support resilience, many of the young adults I interviewed had few strong social connections of any kind. Few of the 26 young adults I interviewed were religious in traditional ways. Those few young adults who attended services weekly and received social support from their religious congregations experienced high levels of wellbeing despite experiencing many hardships. Even among those who are not religious in traditional ways, nearly all of them ask moral questions about meaning and purpose. Studies of resilience should thus consider both individual and social factors that lead to or inhibit experiencing growth after a traumatic event.