“Oh shit, should I be afraid now?” : Interpretations of responsibility and individual resilience in Stockholm

Abstract: This thesis aims to attain a deeper understanding of individual resilience as shaped by interpretations of individual responsibility in Stockholm. The research questions that will guide this effort are which interpretations of responsibility for crisis preparedness are there among Stockholm citizens? And, how do understandings of responsibility influence individual resilience? To answer those questions, seven semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted and analysed through a thematic analysis, using resilience as a theoretical framework. The theoretical contribution of the thesis is therefore a better understanding of what shapes individual resilience. The findings show that while individual responsibility is conceptualised in the similar ways by the participants, the descriptive empirical accounts of individual responsibility and how they are influenced also present a struggle to adapt to uncertainty and complexity.