The present work presents positive psychology as a movement that proposes the investigation of potentially healthy aspects of human beings in opposition to traditional psychology and its emphasis in psychopathology. Among the phenomena that indicate healthy life, resilience is distinguished by its references to processes that explain bouncing back to adversities whose hegemonic discourse is focused on the individual. The quantitative studies have contributed to the naturalization of resilience as a human capacity, and the family studies were identified as based on qualitative data within systemic, ecological and developmental perspectives. Having considered the methodological difficulties and the ideological controversies of the concept it is suggested a cautious investigation of meaning before the application of the term.
Positive psychology; resilience; family resilience
