A distinguishing characteristic of resources (both positive and negative) is their potential rather than actual nature. List several positive and negative resources parents may have.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answers may include:
a. Parental resources are the potential strengths of mothers, fathers, and families that may be drawn upon as the possible basis for progress toward renewal. In contrast, parental coping involves actually taking direct actions (e.g., acquiring resources, learning new skills, and asking for assistance), altering one’s interpretations (e.g., reframing circumstances), and managing one’s emotions (e.g., positively through social support or negatively through substance abuse). Finally, adaptation refers to the ability of parents and other family members to recover from stress and crisis and establish a new level of functioning.
b. Parents with seemingly equivalent resources often vary in the extent to which they are capable of implementing these reserves within the parent–child relationship. Variability in resource accessibility underscores the idea that resources are simply capacities that are only possibly available but may or may not be actualized, or placed into action, for particular circumstances. Resources are often classified based on their origins, such as within the person, within the familial environment, or from other social contexts.