ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the current theoretical positioning of stress and of resilience, and the contribution of these concepts to health and wellbeing, by developing linkages to the constructs in our social work knowledge base. Using the experience of civil defence emergencies and natural disasters as a focus, an ecological lens is employed to construct a relational understanding of resilience for social work practice. It provides three objectives for the reader:
Firstly, the understanding of ecological and constructivist approaches to social work is refreshed and offered for exploration and critique;
Secondly, the reader is challenged to develop a perspective on stress and on resilience that incorporates and resonates with social work knowledge and principles;
Finally, this framework for practice offers the reader the opportunity to apply their own understanding of social work, stress and resilience to a practice setting of civil emergencies and disasters.
