Tackling some of the most important ideas in child psychology and human development, Human Resilience presents key theories from Ann and Alan Clarke's pioneering work in this field. The Clarkes discuss major interacting influences on development, including genetic and environmental effects, chance events and the tendency for people to influence their environments in ways that reinforce their personal characteristics. In particular, they address various issues surrounding IQ inheritance and outline factors affecting the success of several intervention programmes, including fostering and adoption.

The emerging importance of resilience as a fundamental human characteristic makes this book of great significance to psychologists, social workers and students. Anyone working with disadvantaged children and those with learning disabilities will be interested in Human Resilience's practical implications: how resilience can be improved both by personal characteristics such as self-esteem, problem-solving ability or sociability, interacting with external support.

Few can match the contribution these scientists have made to the field of intellectual disability and to the broader field of the psychology of human development… Human Resilience contains a selection of 18 articles and chapters previously published jointly or individually by the authors over a period spanning the years 1953-2000. These published papers have been complemented by three new chapters and introductory commentaries… This book is an inspiration to those that follow in the footsteps of these two intellectual giants. They have, as Barbara Tizard reports, made the world a better place, especially for people with intellectual disabilities'. -- Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities
`This book is for the concerned sceptic, for those who see the potential of and question the ability of major interventions in children's lives, such as adoption, and in so doing wonder about the mechanisms by which alteration in life's pathways come about' -- Adoption and Fostering, 29:2, 2005
`An excellent treatment of methodological concepts such as `the sleeper effect, the `regression to the mean' and the use of correlations help to elucidate issues in the field that are commonly misunderstood or misapplied.' -- The Journal of the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health
`Clarke and Clarke have been the pioneers of a systematic study of human resilence since the early1950's, and their work undoubtedly shaped the history of developmental psychology in this country…if you work as a developmental psychologist or you are interested in the nature-nurture debate, I would suggest you read this book.' -- The Psychologist Journal

Ann Clarke was Emeritus Professor at the University of Hull, as was her late husband Alan Clarke who also held the position of Pro-Vice Chancellor at the University. Their work has been widely published, including seven other books, and their careful research and analysis was recognized by the 1977 Research Award from the American Association on Mental Deficiency and the 1982 Distinguished Achievement Award for Scientific Literature from the International Association for the Scientific Study of Mental Deficiency. Ann was a Fellow of the British Psychological Society and Alan was an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and, in 1974, he was appointed a CBE.