Abstract
The paper investigated family resilient strategies for coping with adversity. This research was motivated by the researcher’s observation about various forms of adversity that range from financial stress, health crisis, relationship conflict, high societal pressure and economic instability, which invariably stress families in many ways and affect their mental and emotional well-being, thereby affecting the productivity of the family. The objectives of this work, therefore, include defining and conceptualising family resilience, identifying common forms of adversity, analysing key internal resilience strategies, examining the influence of cultural and religious values, as well as assessing the challenges that hinder the development of resilience of families in the global South. This study is necessary because of the paucity of empirical materials on the issue of family resilient strategies in the situation of people in southwest Nigeria. This paper has investigated family resilient strategies for coping with adversity, considering the gap in the application of the family system theory to recommend strategies such as placing emphasis on the importance of understanding the family's emotional dynamics and patterns of interaction to address individual and family problems. Hence, family system theory was engaged in addressing the topic. It employed a cross-sectional survey design to arrive at the results. Applying descriptive statistics, data were collected from 100 families in Ondo State, Western Nigeria, on their family resilient strategies for coping with adversity. The results show that while all families employed resilience strategies, there were significant differences in the types and effectiveness of these strategies across different family structures. The paper therefore concluded that each family and individuals are to adopt resilience strategies to navigate the challenges of life and never to lose hope despite the challenges. Hence, this paper has contributed to the discourse about family resilience in Nigeria and beyond.