Educated Beyond Adversity: Understanding Resilience And Attachment In Homeless Young Adults Pursuing Higher Education

Abstract

Researchers have studied resilience and attachment to determine the significance in the lives of homeless young adults in the United States. However, little research has determined the potential link between resilience and attachment of these young adults who choose to persevere beyond their adversity. This study examined the interactions between homelessness and educational goals with resilience and attachment for homeless young adults pursuing post-secondary education. The researcher administered both the Revised Adult Attachment Scale- Close Relationships Version and the Resilience Scale-14 to 84 participants who have experienced homelessness as young adults and pursued higher education. Administration of a qualitative question added narrative thickness to the two-way MANOVA statistics garnered from the administered instruments. The testing of the research hypotheses were to prove whether a significant interaction effect exists between length of homelessness and educational goals on resilience and attachment for the selected population. Potential implications could help counselors and educators better assist homeless young adults to be successful in their educational endeavors.