title: Restorying the self: an exploration of young burn survivors' narratives of resilience.
abstract: The results of this exploratory study reflect a shift from public health studies that aim to examine the risk and prevalence of burn injury, toward eliciting survivors' subjective meaning-making processes beyond the injury event. We drew on a narrative framework to explore how young survivors' experiences of burn injury led to reconstructions of self and shifts in thinking about others and the world. Although participants' narratives revealed elements of heightened self-awareness, need for acceptance, and desire for recognition, these stood alongside counter narratives denoting positive, transformative, and resilient aspects of healing that reflected a rebirth of the self, life having purpose, and psychospiritual growth. A multidimensional and relational framework for resilience acknowledges the "deficient," but also recognizes the pathways to growth, healing, meaning, and purpose. This shift toward person-centered meanings has value in informing interventions beyond the immediate "wound care," toward the survivors' lifelong (re)negotiation of identity, appearance, psychological adjustment, and social reintegration.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Social & Health Sciences, University of South Africa, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa. ursula.lau@gmail.com
authors.forename: Ursula
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.forename: Ashley
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: van Niekerk
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D001364:Awareness; D002056:Burns / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008297:Male; D033262:Narration; D010146:Pain / Q000523:psychology*; D011582:Psychological Theory; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012649:Self Concept; D012647:Self-Assessment; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult