Promoting Resilience in Muslim Children in the
United Kingdom
: Parents' Perspectives
Aisling Murray, Imogen Hensler, Faiza Durrani, Patrisiya Ali Taleb, Maria Grazia Turri, Jennifer Y. F. Lau ABSTRACT
Objective
This study explored parents' perspectives on (1) concepts of resilience, and (2a) stressors and (2b) resources across family, community and wider systems shaping resilience among Black and South Asian Muslim children living in East London.
Background
Understanding personal and social resources that promote resilience in pre‐adolescence can inform mental health interventions. Families from minoritised ethnic backgrounds remain underrepresented in resilience research, despite often experiencing multisystemic risk factors.
Methods
Mothers ( n = 9) took part in a workshop (including focus groups) and fathers ( n = 2) took part in a joint interview to explore perspectives on children's resilience. Themes were generated using reflexive thematic analysis.
Results
Findings were grouped as (1) concepts of resilience, (2) parents' perceptions of stressors and (3) parents' perceptions of resilience resources. Parents highlighted stressors including structural inequalities, government neglect, environmental degradation and intergenerational cultural and educational gaps. Family support, proximity to community and culture, safe and resource‐rich local environments and religion were viewed as central to children's resilience.
Conclusions
Parents emphasised resilience as relational and socioecological, underscoring the need for interventions that strengthen supportive systems around children.
Implications
More community‐based research is needed to understand locally relevant resources and inform multisystemic, culturally grounded resilience‐promoting interventions for children facing social adversity.