Abstract
‘Resilience’ is reshaping the science and politics of trauma in the twenty-first century. This chapter traces the history of this concept, from when it entered psychology in the 1960s until the US military adopted it in the 2000s. Resilience originally belonged to developmental psychopathology, not traumatology. But the effects of 9/11 defied scientific expectations, and psychologists began to argue that it was necessary to rethink how the mind reacts to such extreme experiences. As the war in Iraq deteriorated and a mental-health crisis loomed within the armed forces, the US Army asked ‘positive psychology’ to increase the resilience of its soldiers. But in doing so, the Army overlooked important conclusions from half a century of psychological research on resilience.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Personal interview, New York City, April 5, 2019.
- 2.
Personal interview, Boston, November 6, 2017.
- 3.
Personal interview, New York City, April 5, 2019.
References
Abramson, L. Y., M. E. P. Seligman, and J. D. Teasdale. 1978. “Learned helplessness in humans: Critique and reformulation.” Journal of Abnormal Psychology 87 (1): 49–74. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.87.1.49.
Alexander, D. E. 2013. “Resilience and disaster risk reduction: An etymological journey.” Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences 13: 2707–2716. https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-13-2707-2013.
American Psychiatric Association. 1980. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 3rd ed. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.
Bartemeier, L., et al. 1946. “Combat exhaustion.” Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 104: 358–389. https://doi.org/10.1097/00005053-194610000-00002.
Bonanno, G. A. 2004. “Loss, trauma, and human resilience: Have we underestimated the human capacity to thrive after extremely aversive events?” American Psychologist 59 (1): 20–28. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066x.59.1.20.
Bonanno, G. A. 2009. The Other Side of Sadness: What the New Science of Bereavement Tells Us About Life After Loss. New York, NY: Basic Books.
Bonanno, G. A., C. B. Wortman, D. R. Lehman, R. G. Tweed, M. Haring, J. Sonnega, D. Carr, and R. M. Nesse. 2002. “Resilience to loss and chronic grief: A prospective study from pre-loss to 18-months post-loss.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 83 (5): 1150–1164. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.83.5.1150.
Bonanno, G. A., S. Galea, A. Bucciarelli, and D. Vlahov. 2006. “Psychological resilience after disaster: New York City in the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attack.” Psychological Science 17 (3): 181–186. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01682.x.
Breslau, N., and R. C. Kessler. 2001. “The stressor criterion in DSM-IV posttraumatic stress disorder: An empirical investigation.” Biological Psychiatry 50 (9): 699–704. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0006-3223(01)01167-2.
DeFraia, D. 2019. “The unknown legacy of military mental health programs.” The War Horse, October 2. https://thewarhorse.org/the-unknown-legacy-of-military-mental-health-programs/
Denning, L. A., M. Meisnere, and K. E. Warner, eds. 2014. Preventing Psychological Disorders in Service Members and Their Families: An Assessment of Programs. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
Ehrenreich, B. 2009. Bright-sided: How Positive Thinking Is Undermining America. New York, NY: Metropolitan Books.
Eidelson, R., M. Pilisuk, and S. Soldz. 2011. “The dark side of Comprehensive Soldier Fitness.” American Psychologist 66 (7): 643–644. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0025272.
Fassin, D., and R. Rechtman. 2009. Empire of Trauma: An Inquiry into the Condition of Victimhood. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Garmezy, N. 1985. “Competence and adaptation in adult schizophrenic patients and children at risk.” In Research in the Schizophrenic Disorders, edited by Robert Cancro and Stanley R. Dean, 69–112. Dordrecht: Springer.
Harms, P. D., M. Herian, D. V. Krasikova, A. J. Vanhove, and P. B. Lester. 2013. The Comprehensive Soldier and Family Fitness Evaluation. Report #4: Evaluation of Resilience Training and Mental and Behavioral Health Outcomes. Washington, DC: Department of Defense.
Hiroto, D. S. 1974. “Locus of control and learned helplessness.” Journal of Experimental Psychology 102 (2): 187–193. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0035910.
Hiroto, D. S., and M. E. P. Seligman. 1974. “Generality of learned helplessness in man.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 31 (2): 311–327. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0076270.
Horowitz, D. 2018. Happier? The History of a Cultural Movement That Aspired to Transform America. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Internal memorandum. 2008. “Summary of initial meeting Casey, Seligman, et al.” Department of Defense. Accessed July 14 2021. https://thewarhorse.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/2.-Strategy-for-CJCS-converted.pdf
Kessler, R. C., P. Berglund, O. Demler, R. Jin, K. R. Merikangas, and E. E. Walters. 2005. “Lifetime prevalence and age-of-onset of DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication.” Archives of General Psychiatry 62 (7): 593–602. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.62.6.593.
Kieran, D. 2019. Signature Wounds: The Untold Story of the Military Mental Health Crisis. New York, NY: New York University Press.
Konnikova, M. 2016. “How people learn to become resilient.” The New Yorker, February 11. https://www.newyorker.com/science/maria-konnikova/the-secret-formula-for-resilience
Lang, J. 2020. “‘A test of character’: The positive psychology of war.” In Geopolitical Amnesia: The Rise of the Right and the Crisis of Liberal Memory, edited by Vibeke Schou Tjalve, 48–66. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press.
Linley, P. A., and S. Joseph. 2005. “The human capacity for growth through adversity.” American Psychologist 60 (3): 262–4. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066x.60.3.262b.
Litz, B. T., M. J. Gray, R. A. Bryant, and A. B. Adler. 2002. “Early intervention for trauma: Current status and future directions.” Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice 9 (2): 112–134. https://doi.org/10.1093/clipsy.9.2.112.
McNally, R. J. 2003. “Progress and controversy in the study of posttraumatic stress disorder.” Annual Review of Psychology 54: 229–252. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.54.101601.145112.
McNally, R. J. 2005. “Troubles in traumatology.” The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry 50 (13): 815–816. https://doi.org/10.1177/070674370505001301.
Morris, D. J. 2015. The Evil Hours: A Biography of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. New York, NY: Mariner.
National Institute of Mental Health. 2002. Mental Health and Mass Violence: Evidence-Based Early Psychological Intervention for Victims/Survivors of Mass Violence. A Workshop to Reach Consensus on Best Practices. NIH Publication No. 02-5138. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office.
Newman, R. 2005. “APA’s resilience initiative.” Professional Psychology: Research and Practice 36 (3): 227–228. https://doi.org/10.1037/0735-7028.36.3.227.
Priest, D., and A. Hull. 2007. “Soldiers face neglect, frustration at Army’s top medical facility.” Washington Post, February 18.
Scott, W. J. 1990. “PTSD in DSM-III: A case in the politics of diagnosis and disease.” Social Problems 37 (3): 294–310. https://doi.org/10.2307/800744.
Sederer, L. I., C. B. Lanzara, S. M. Essock, S. A. Donahue, J. L. Stone, and S. Galea. 2011. “Lessons learned from the New York State mental health response to the September 11, 2001, attacks.” Psychiatric Services 62 (9), 1085–1089. https://doi.org/10.1176/ps.62.9.pss6209_1085.
Seligman, M. E. P. 2006. Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life. New York, NY: Vintage.
Seligman, M. E. P. 2011. Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-Being. Washington, DC: Free Press.
Seligman, M. E. P. 2018. “The Hoffman report, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the defense of the nation: A personal view.” Health Psychology Open July–December: 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1177/2055102918796192.
Seligman, M. E. P., and M. Csikszentmihalyi. 2000. “Positive psychology: An introduction.” American Psychologist 55 (1): 5–14. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.5.
Selva, J. 2021. “Master Resilience Training (MRT) in the US Army: PowerPoint & Interview.” Positive Psychology, June 5. https://positivepsychology.com/master-resilience-training-mrt/
Steenkamp, M. M., W. P. Nash, and B. T. Litz. 2013. “Post-traumatic Stress Disorder: Review of the Comprehensive Soldier Fitness Program.” American Journal of Preventive Medicine 44 (5): 507–512. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2013.01.013.
Weiner, B. 1972. “Attribution theory, achievement motivation, and the educational process.” Review of Educational Research 42 (2): 203–215. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543042002203.
Weiner, B., and A. Kukla. 1970. “An attributional analysis of achievement motivation.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 15 (1): 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0029211.
Werner, E. E. 1989. “High-risk children in young adulthood: A longitudinal study from birth to 32 years.” American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 59 (1): 72–81. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1939-0025.1989.tb01636.x.
Werner, E. E., J. M. Bierman, and F. E. French. 1971. The Children of Kauai: A Longitudinal Study from the Prenatal Period to Age Ten. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press.
Wortman, C. B., and R. C. Silver. 1989. “The myths of coping with loss.” Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 57 (3): 349–57. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-006x.57.3.349.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Lang, J. (2022). A New Psychology of War: The Science of Resilience and the Militarization of Positive Psychology. In: Bourke, J., Schott, R.M. (eds) Resilience. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-13367-1_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-13367-1_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-13366-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-13367-1
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)