ABSTRACT
Identify the kinds of social psychological reactions and concerns • that may arise in the context of various kinds of disasters: natural, technological, or terroristic Discuss impacts on various populations that may bear dispropor-• tionate risks for social psychological trauma List and explain the various factors that may influence how people • experience potentially traumatic events Understand the implications of social psychological research for • designing therapeutic interventions Appreciate the need for professional therapies and appropriate cre-• dentialing of those involved in social psychological recovery efforts Describe strategies for providing therapeutic relief for various popu-• lations and for different kinds of social psychological needs
Introduction Popular images of disaster victims describe them as panicked, unable to function, and at a loss in the face of widespread destruction . Cameras zoom
in on a distraught individual and our hearts go out to the person seemingly in trauma . Yet, these images represent stereotypes and mythical depictions of how most people actually respond to disaster (Tierney, Lindell, and Perry 2001) . In most circumstances, people tend to respond to disasters the way they respond to nondisaster crises . And, predisaster conditions matter . If people had serious psychological issues before disaster, those problems are likely to continue afterwards . The “good news” about disaster, then, is that, most of the time, most of us will be able to step up and face difficult circumstances .
