This paper provides a critical review of research into the notion of psychological resilience and its implications for studies of disadvantaged young people. A number of significant conceptual and methodological challenges are examined, the most important of these being the difficulties associated with the operationalisation of resilience, the development of culturally relevant thresholds and the circularity inherent in commonly used definitions. The limitations and potential value of integrated theoretical models, such as Brofenbrenner's ecological model and Bandura's self‐efficacy theory are considered, along with suggestions for methodological strategies to enhance the validity and comprehensiveness of resilience research.

This article presents a reflective account of the emotional dimensions of in-depth field research in prisons. Drawing on the work of Goffman to make sense of ethnographic processes and techniques, it is argued that performance and impression management play crucial roles in the research process. However, it is suggested that there are commensurate emotional costs associated with the roles and identities that ethnographers might enact in the field. It is argued that the finer details of ethnographic practice can be better understood when the emotional dimensions of research experiences are carefully analysed and processed.

Sixty-three relatives of 52 schizophrenics living at home were offered a package of treatments by professionals working in an everyday NHS setting: educational seminars, relatives' groups, and family meetings. Thirty-two relatives refused intervention. Of the 31 relatives who agreed, 14 attended neither the educational seminars nor the relatives' groups. Seventeen relatives had a mean of ten treatment sessions, but there was little change in their level of expressed emotion after intervention. The number of patients who relapsed was the same in the 18 months before and after intervention, although the total number of relapses fell after intervention.

This research examines perceived physical health, psychological distress, and social support among prison officers in the United Kingdom. The study found that prison officers reported poor perceived physical health and a high level of psychological distress. There were significant correlations between measures of perceived physical health and a measure of psychological distress (indicating that as perceived physical health decreased, psychological distress increased). There was some evidence that social support from within the prison moderated the relationship between perceived physical health and psychological distress, whereas social support from significant others did not. Future research and clinical implications of these findings are considered.