ABSTRACT
As is true for other national or regional crises like natural disasters and industrial accidents, terrorism has enormous impacts beyond the immediate destruction, injury, loss of life, and consequent fear. These impacts span the personal, organizational, and societal levels and can have profound psychological, economic, and social consequences. The social and behavioral sciences must provide the knowledge, tools, techniques, and trained scientists that are needed if we are to be prepared to understand, prevent, mitigate, and intervene where required in events related to such crises. Lessons learned from previous research and development efforts are diverse and numerous. For example, research on the mental health consequences of disasters like the Oklahoma City bombing has produced a better understanding of the course of disruptive and disabling symptoms of distress, who is at risk of developing a serious mental illness, and helpful interventions to reduce trauma-related distress, including depression and anxiety disorders. Basic economic research on how markets work was used by government economic advisors to devise policies that would provide the right incentives and not interfere with transitions in industries most affected by the changed security situation after September 11, 2001.
