Superare le avversità: famiglie resilienti nel carcere San Pedro di La Paz (Bolivia)

Abstract

The present study focuses on family resilience, exploring adaptation, transformation and growth processes experienced by families undergoing critical situations. To this aim we performed a qualitative research to enlight resilience in six families currently living in San Pedro prison of La Paz (Bolivia) where wives and children are allowed to live with the detainees fathers. Both parents of each family were given a semi-structured interview, pointing at highlighting resilience processes in three main domains: systems of beliefs, patterns of family organization and conflict-solving devices. By implementing ‘Grounded Theory’ approach in our interpretation of data, we identified both common strategies and specific solutions families adopted to reorganize and rebuild their family life, preserving their social and emotional relationships, assuming new responsibilities and engaging in projects for the future.