Resilience in Times of Economic Boom and Bust: A Narrative Study of a Rural Population Dependent upon the Oil and Gas In
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Resilience in Times of Economic Boom and Bust: A Narrative Study of a Rural Population Dependent upon the Oil and Gas Industry Hamideh Mahdiani1 · Jan Höltge2 · Linda Theron3 · Michael Ungar2 Accepted: 2 October 2020 © The Author(s) 2020
Abstract 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. Keywords Adult resilience · Boom and bust economic cycles · Narrative analysis · Oil and gas industry · Life-story construct
Introduction Psychological resilience in adulthood is defined as individuals’ ability to “maintain relatively stable, healthy levels of psychological functioning” when facing “highly disruptive events” (Bonanno 2004, pp. 20–21). Based on different studies by Bonanno and colleagues (Bonanno et al. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10804-020-09363-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Hamideh Mahdiani h.mahdiani@uni‑mainz.de 1
Institute for History, Theory and Ethics of Medicine, University of Mainz, Am Pulverturm 13, 55131 Mainz, Germany
2
Resilience Research Centre, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada
3
Department of Educational Psychology, Faculty of Education, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
2002, 2005, 2006) it is maintained that individuals who are exposed to atypical stressors generally show psychological resilience, and despite temporary setbacks, maintain their normal level of functioning. One such disruptive event is an unstable economy and the problems caused by commodity pri
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