Mahdiani Hamideh, Höltge Jan, Theron Linda, Ungar Michael
Institute for History, Theory and Ethics of Medicine, University of Mainz, Am Pulverturm 13, 55131 Mainz, Germany.
Resilience Research Centre, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS Canada.
J Adult Dev. 2021;28(2):149-161. doi: 10.1007/s10804-020-09363-z. Epub 2020 Oct 22.
How do residents of small towns that depend on oil and gas extraction or processing industries withstand economic boom and bust cycles? To answer this question, this article reports on a narrative analysis of residents' life stories gathered from 37 adults of a small town on the Canadian prairies dependent on the oil and gas industry, employing the theories of narrative inquiry and narrative identity. Participants aged 30 to 76 were interviewed and their experiences of living in an unstable economy that is dependent mostly on a single resource extraction industry were explored. Specifically, we asked participants about the effect of economic change on factors related to resilience like family interactions, work choices, educational pathways, and the quality of their social lives. Our analysis of adult narratives looked for patterns in the relationship between risk exposure, promotive and protective factors at multiple systemic levels (individual, relational, cultural), and functional outcomes such as individual coping, community cohesion, and social and economic sustainability. Results show that a strong identity, in particular expressions of personal agency, communion, and engagement in meaning making are contributing factors to adult resilience in a context of economic change. Our results also highlight how positive attitudes towards a better future may inadvertently undermine the need for residents of oil and gas-dependent towns to commit to economic diversification and other potential resilience-promoting strategies.
那些依赖石油和天然气开采或加工业的小镇居民如何承受经济的兴衰周期？为了回答这个问题，本文报告了一项叙事分析，该分析基于从加拿大草原地区一个依赖石油和天然气行业的小镇的37名成年人那里收集到的生活故事，运用了叙事探究和叙事身份理论。对年龄在30至76岁之间的参与者进行了访谈，并探讨了他们生活在主要依赖单一资源开采行业的不稳定经济中的经历。具体而言，我们询问了参与者经济变化对与复原力相关因素的影响，如家庭互动、工作选择、教育途径以及他们社交生活的质量。我们对成年人叙事的分析在多个系统层面（个人、关系、文化）寻找风险暴露、促进和保护因素与诸如个人应对、社区凝聚力以及社会和经济可持续性等功能结果之间关系的模式。结果表明，强烈的身份认同，特别是个人能动性、归属感以及对意义建构的参与的表达，是经济变化背景下成年人复原力的促成因素。我们的结果还凸显了对更美好未来的积极态度可能会无意中削弱石油和天然气依赖型城镇居民致力于经济多元化和其他潜在复原力促进策略的必要性。
