Early in her career as a developmental psychologist, Dr. Margaret Beale Spencer noted that the ability of some people to cope with serious difficulty was not a matter of luck. Rather, a complex set of traits-which she calls "resilience"- made all the difference in determining who overcame adversity and who did not.
The quest to understand resilience has become a life's work for Spencer, who joined the faculty of Penn's Graduate School of Education last month as the Board of Overseers Professor of Education. The quest is more than just an academic exercise for Spencer. The possibility that this knowledge can help desperately poor urban youths succeed makes her work compelling and timely.
Take two youths from the inner city, alike in intellectual potential and ability. Each may come from the same difficult circumstances: poverty, drug and crime-ridden neighborhoods populated by under-employed or unemployed adults. One youth goes on to become a successful professional, the other is swallowed by the crime and violence of ghetto life. What qualities account for one's success under harsh circumstance and the apparent failure of another?
Spencer believes that if resilience can be understood-perhaps even
taught-educators and policy makers would have a powerful tool in the battle to
reduce violence and high failure rates.
Experiences as a hospital pharmacist
Spencer first noticed that young children, even under the harshest conditions,
can sometimes surprise adults with an inner strength and determination. Before
becoming a research psychologist, Spencer was a hospital pharmacist and often
dispensed medication to very young cancer and renal-disease patients. Through
her day-to-day contact with extremely ill and dying children, Spencer was moved
by the ability of some children to find meaning in their suffering. She watched
with fascination as the children were able to give emotional support to their
families.
"I remember one child, an eight-year-old renal patient who was swollen from the side effects of steroids," says Spencer. "He was able to be happy and positive, while the parents were clearly out of control. I found this amazing."
Such experiences compelled her to take some psychology courses. Her interest-and future direction-instantly became clear.
According to Spencer, determining what qualities constitute resilience is
a delicate process of distillation, one that calls for an understanding of the
cultural, sexual, and psychosocial issues that confront an individual as he or
she seeks to define a self and evolve an identity.
Focusing on African-American youths
For the last several years, Spencer has focused on the African-American male
adolescent. With the help of graduate students, she has collected an extensive
amount of data that may force a reevaluation of the role stressful conditions
play in shaping human development.
"Adolescent males are under great pressure to demonstrate their competence as males," she says, arguing that the basic need to accomplish something productive is the very drive that is frustrated by inner-city poverty and hopelessness. "When these males see no possibility for positive accomplishment, alternative behaviors take over. The results may include violence, addictive and destructive actions-or resilience."
If Spencer is correct, then society's orientation toward the underpinnings of antisocial behavior needs to be changed. Poverty does not tempt just the "weak" individual with poor, shortsighted choices. More insidiously, it subverts the most basic drives of human nature: the need to be productive, social, and successful in establishing one's self identity.
"We've been wrongheaded about urban violence," says Spencer. "We're in a reactive mode: we can find billions to build prisons, but we can't find billions to fund meaningful jobs programs for urban areas."
Spencer plans to bring her combination of research and intervention to University City High School this semester. With a small band of GSE students, Spencer hopes to become "part of University City High's environment," helping students learn about the qualities that might make a crucial difference in their ability to choose a better future path.
Although details of the program are being worked out with the school's principal, Spencer says that any successes will be measured in several ways, including improved test performance, better attendance, an increased ability to handle interpersonal relations among the students, and a better school climate for everyone.
Describing the project, Spencer says, "basic research is to be used," along with imput from the schools, homes, and community.
Indeed, Spencer said that GSE's focus on urban schools was one of the factors in her decision to accept the offer to come to Penn. "I also appreciate GSE's international focus. We need to understand the similarities and differences across cultures and national boundaries to maximize our knowledge."
"We at GSE feel enormously privileged to welcome Dr. Margaret Spencer as our colleague," says Dr. Nancy Hornberger, acting dean of the Graduate School of Education. "Her impact on GSE, Penn, Philadelphia, and the nation has only begun to be felt."
Spencer, who came to Penn this year from a faculty post at Emory University, earned her bachelor's degree from Temple University in 1967. She took her doctorate at the University of Chicago. Author of more than 50 scholarly articles, Spencer is currently working on two research volumes that report findings of longitudinal studies of the development of urban youths.