Disaster,Crisis Theory,and Intervention Strategies

Abstract

“Crisis” is a concept that has been approached as 1) an environmentally produced situation, 2) an individual's perception of an event, 3) a characteristic clinical syndrome, 4) interaction between a subjective state and an objective environmental situation, and, more recently, 5) a critical role transition. Central to most views is the acute time factor, marked behavioral change, subjective sense of helplessness, generation of organismic tension, and the perception of threat in relativistic and unique terms. This paper suggests a probability formulation of whether or not individuals or groups will experience crisis and discusses both anticipatory and participatory strategies of disaster intervention.

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