The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the effectiveness of the Children's Program in promoting resiliency in children affected by family addiction through the eyes of three participant children, their mothers and three facilitators. The children chosen for this study had participated in at least two complete 12-week programs of the Children's Program and were believed to be communicative and capable of understanding the purpose of the research. Using questionnaires as the collection instruments, data for analysis were gathered through recorded interviews. However, these questionnaires were primarily used as a guide. In addition, the Family Therapist from the Addiction Treatment Centre was interviewed to provide another voice to the study. My personal journals as the coordinator were also consulted. Using a case study methodology, I examined the functioning of the Children's Program to determine if the experiences of the children, the parents and the facilitators indicated that this program was effective in promoting resiliency in participant children. Personal observations, child, parent, and facilitator interviews, personal journals, letters from parents, and Family Therapist interview triangulated these observations. Analysis of the data revealed five emergent themes: Feelings, Social Skills, Creative Thinking, Risk Taking, and Community Building.
Jeannette Cormier-MacKeen (Tue,) studied this question.