Contesti educativi e risorse individuali tra inclusione e marginalità - Educational contexts and individual development between inclusion and risk of deviance

It is known that the presence of stressful family conditions, associated with parenting dysfunction, can cause learning difficulties in children and behavioral problems (Beavers, 1993). And, the immigrant families generally are more exposed to stressful conditions more than others: socio-economic poverty, lack of social support, racial discrimination. These difficulties inevitably translate into a continuous state of tension and stress that often can affect both mental and physical health and compromise interpersonal relationships, producing negative effects on the educational and parenting competences. Also, the cultural gap does not help parents in their educational task, placing them in conditions of conflict in an attempt to find a possible mediation between contrasting principles and traditions, with inevitable consequences on the socio-cognitive and relational development of children. A resilient child is capable to adapt to circumstances that change and respond positively to the challenges of life: it faces them with determination and seeks external support, when the situation is above its possibilities. When this capacity is lacking and the development context proves somewhat inadequate, the subject could express dysfunctional and maladaptive behavioral patterns.