The achievement of academic success among disadvantaged Black youth in South Africa: An exploratory study in resiliency

This study attempted to understand how Black youth in South Africa who face multiple stressors of poverty, apartheid and community violence are able to achieve academic success and describe a life path indicative of a resilient trajectory. In the South African context, academic success is a reasonable measure of resiliency/competence because Black students usually have to overcome many hardships to attain what in other societies is considered ordinary developmental tasks.;Through ethnographic interviews an insider's perspective of the lives of participants was gained. The primary research tools were: interviews with participants (first year university students), participant written narrative accounts, and informal discussions with key informants in a participant's life. The ethnographic method was chosen as a method of inquiry for three reasons. Firstly, its ability in generating valuable descriptive accounts. Secondly, the value it places on the participants' role and perspective. Thirdly, allowing the researcher to use multiple and diverse data sources providing a simultaneous check for validity.;The results of this study indicate that Black students who achieve academic success in South Africa largely describe themselves as high in achievement and initiative, goal oriented, motivated and understanding the self as one that has agency. The researcher, furthermore observed them to be responsible, committed and generous; qualities that were confirmed through conversations with significant adults in their lives. Their families not only influenced the development of these qualities in individuals but also supported them when it was lacking. Relationships, role models, teachers and supportive communities were also proposed as protective factors.;The findings of this research: is helpful for educators; is especially valuable in the formulation and implementation of child and family care policy in a South Africa experiencing political transition; and has generated ideas that can be used for more extensive and comparative studies.;This research is based on the following premises: that human behavior is complex and culturally-driven; that the psychological challenges facing youth in urban South Africa is integrally linked to a variety of political, social and economic problems making the solutions naturally complex.