UBC Press Human Resilience book Paperback 432 pages

Tackling some of the most important ideas in child psychology and human development, Human Resilience presents key theories from Ann and Alan Clarke's pioneering work in this field. The Clarkes discuss major interacting influences on development, including genetic and environmental effects, chance events and the tendency for people to influence their environments in ways that reinforce their personal characteristics. In particular, they address various issues surrounding IQ inheritance and outline factors affecting the success of several intervention programmes, including fostering and adoption. The emerging importance of resilience as a fundamental human characteristic makes this book of great significance to psychologists, social workers and students. Anyone working with disadvantaged children and those with learning disabilities will be interested in Human Resilience's practical implications: how resilience can be improved both by personal characteristics such as self-esteem, problem-solving ability or sociability, interacting with external support.

Ann and Alan Clarke are Emeritus Professors at the University of Hull, where Alan was also Pro-vice-chancellor and Ann was the first woman to be appointed to a Chair. They are widely published, including seven other books. Their careful research and analysis has been recognized by the 1977 Research Award from the American Association on Mental Deficiency and the 1982 Distinguished Achievement Award for Scientific Literature from the International Association for the Scientific Study of Mental Deficiency. They are both Fellows of the British Psychological Society and Alan is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and in 1974 was appointed CBE.