Building Resilience through Social and Emotional Learning: Case Study Analysis of a Peer Mentoring Programme in Chicago

This paper examines how socio-emotional education can foster resilience among adolescents facing adversity. Using a qualitative case study approach, it analyses a socio-emotional learning (SEL) program implemented in US context: a peer mentoring initiative in high-risk urban Chicago, called SLIY (Saving Lives, Inspiring Youth). Drawing on Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, Masten’s resilience model, and the CASEL competencies framework, the study explores how interventions targeting microsystem relationships and mesosystem linkages can enhance adolescents’ adaptive capacities. Dataset were built through interviews, focus groups, observations, and document analysis, originally gathered by the SLIY evaluation team for the programme’s interim evaluation; the present study draws on those published materials through a secondary documentary analysis. Findings indicate that SEL interventions strengthened protective factors such as emotional regulation, peer support, school belonging, and family engagement. The paper argues that socio-emotional education, when integrated across educational systems, offers a strategic pathway to promote resilience and mental health in adolescents and presents implications for policy and practice at both school and community levels.