Abstract: Equitable Resilience: A Southern African Perspective (Society for Social Work and Research 29th Annual Conference)

Schedule:

Friday, January 17, 2025

Willow B, Level 2 (Sheraton Grand Seattle)

* noted as presenting author

Tim Davidson, MSW/MS, Program Coordinator, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA

Regardt Ferreira, PhD, Associate Professor, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA

Alice Ncube, Associate Professor, University of the Free State, South Africa

Anita Padmanabhanunni, Professor, University of the Western Cape, South Africa

Cameron Leahy, Doctoral Student, Tulane University, LA

Collins Okolie, Doctoral Student, University of the Free State

Background and Purpose:

Resilience has been criticized for its failure to account for differential vulnerability and to consider issues related to social justice, equity, and inclusion. The concept of equitable resilience has emerged to acknowledge the uneven distribution of vulnerabilities and capacities across societies. The majority of research on equitable resilience has come from the Global North, with fewer studies focusing on the Global South. Our research aims to address this gap. We conducted a mixed-methods group concept mapping (GCM) exploratory pilot study to delve into the concept of equitable resilience in the context of Southern Africa. The question prompt chosen for the group concept study was “Equitable resilience in my community would look like...”

Methods:

Given the multidisciplinary nature of equitable resilience and the calls to further conceptualize, contextualize it (Rodina et al. 2017, Goldin 2019), GCM was used with this study and analyzed with groupwisdom software. We identified participants using established networks and recruited them from the Southern African region. The study team compiled a list of 79 disaster risk management practitioners and academic experts from the region and sent an email asking for participation.

Results:

In response to the prompt “Equitable resilience in my community would look like...” 36 participants provided consent to participate in the study, and 67 statements were developed. For phase one, we met all assumptions about data cleaning. Following the previously noted data cleaning, we arrived at a final pool of 74 statements. The number of statements and participants falls within the recommended range for proceeding to phase two (Trochim 1993; Kane and Trochim 2007; Rosas and Kane 2012). Out of the 36 participants who agreed to participate in the study, ten completed phase two sorting. This multidimensional scaling output with a similarity cutoff of one had a stress value of.33. This falls within the range of stress values observed in other GCM studies (Rosas and Kane, 2012). Approaches to social justice; development; laws and policies; teamwork and co-creation; skill-building; inclusion and participation; transformative change; preparedness measures; and strategies for both adaptation and mitigation formed part of the conceptualization of equitable resilience in the Southern African context.

Conclusions and Implications:

This study conducted an exploratory investigation into the conceptualization of equitable resilience from a Global South perspective, with a specific focus on Southern Africa. Through group concept mapping with input from academic experts and practitioners from the region, the study developed a collective mental model of what equitable resilience would look like in the local context. Given the continuous shocks and stressors the region faces, tangible solutions need to be provided for social workers to address chronic vulnerabilities, we can ensure equity is achieved for all in the region. It’s clear that reaching equitable resilience will require a holistic community approach where everyone is not only provided with a voice but has their voice incorporated into initiatives to address locally identified needs.