The study of resilience has largely relied on definitions and conceptualizations of resilience created by academia, with little knowledge produced being grounded in the experience and perspectives of marginalized and stressed populations (Knight et al., 2021; Mendenhall & Kim, 2019). As the voices of these groups are rarely integrated into sanctioned institutional discourses of knowledge, inequality is easily reproduced (Cruz, 2008). Specifically, there has been little exploration of how survivors of sex trafficking define and conceptualize resilience, risking the development of theoretical perspectives and practice recommendations on resilience that are oppressive, demeaning, irrelevant, or harmful to survivors. Sixteen survivors were thus recruited to answer the research question, “What does ‘resilience’ mean to you?” via interviews. Thematic analysis resulted in five themes: resilience as (1) resistance, (2) transition, (3) a sustained force over time, (4) transformation, and (5) resources. Participants primarily defined resilience as the output of their inherent and enduring power to survive and to shape their lives in preferred ways despite adversity. Academic literature emphasizes that resilience results from dynamic interactions between individual traits and external resources (e.g., Pangello et al., 205; Ungar, 2019). Participants emphasized that while resilience is promoted by external resources and opportunities, it is existent even in their absence. Findings suggest that for resilience inquiry and praxis to resonate with survivors, it must first acknowledge the inherent power of survivors already demonstrated by their survival and that resilience-enhancing programs should be aimed at supporting survivors’ native resilience and providing opportunities for that resilience to be manifested in new and preferred ways, rather than aiming at helping them to “become” resilient.
Logan Knight is a doctoral candidate at the College of Social Work, The Ohio State University. As a survivor-researcher-advocate, she seeks to promote socially just, inclusive, and equitable research with survivors. Logan’s research interests include resilience and posttraumatic growth in survivors and grassroots, community-based, and spiritual interventions for human trafficking.