ABSTRACT
Disruptive change, often involving social or economic development, can lead to a wide variety of stresses, vulnerabilities, needs, and dysfunctions. On many unfortunate occasions, these hurtful implications are not adequately anticipated and addressed. This chapter begins with an expanded discussion of anomie as well as the analysis of a variety of ways in which specific people respond to and are affected by it. Additional theories and methods are also discussed in order to emphasize the fact that unanticipated and uncontrolled change can take a profound toll upon people who are not prepared to cope with it. Terror management theory, building upon the work of Ernest Becker, suggests that the fear of death is a major (if not the dominant) force impacting society and human behavior. A strong culture can serve as a buffer or mitigating force that counteracts this fear and tempers dysfunctional reactions to it.
