Crisis as an Opportunity

This book addresses the development of long-term interventions following disasters, emphasizing disadvantaged communities. Attention is given to the role of change agents, such as local and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and psychosocial professionals, to ensure that the window of opportunity is realized, generating immediate help and sustained community development.

Natural and human-made disasters appear to be increasing in frequency and scope, commanding extensive media attention. Growing sensitivity to issues of preparedness and community response has created a greater interest among academics and practitioners.

The Asian Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, mudslides in Brazil, earthquakes in Haiti, Chile, Japan, Turkey, China, and other countries have garnered worldwide notice. Human-made disasters, such as terrorist attacks on New York's World Trade Center or in Oklahoma City, Spain, England, Sri Lanka, Iraq, Afghanistan, and various other countries, or attacks on schoolchildren in places such as Columbine and various communities in China, send shockwaves throughout societies.

This book addresses the development of long-term interventions following disasters, emphasizing disadvantaged communities. Attention is given to the role of change agents, such as local and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and psychosocial professionals, to ensure that the window of opportunity is realized, generating immediate help and sustained community development.

Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part One: Analytic Frameworks and Perspectives
Chapter One: Community and Organizational Responses to Disasters
Chapter Two: Intervention in Disasters: An International Perspective
Part Two: Community Development and Organizational Interventions
Chapter Three: Challenges for Community Development in Disaster Situations
Chapter Four: Program Logic Modeling as a Tool for Developing a Disaster Response and Mitigation Plan: The Somaliland Experience
Chapter Five: Planning for the Unimaginable: Having Your Personal, Family, Organizational, and Community Plan
Chapter Six: Taking the Disabled into Account in Preparing for And Responding to Disasters
Chapter Seven: Neighbors Helping Neighbors: The Disability Community and Emergency Preparedness
Part Three: Notes from the Field
Chapter Eight: Mud and Mold: Making Meaning of Adversity in New Orleans
Chapter Nine: Words of Wisdom Following the Tsunami: Lessons from Sri Lanka
Chapter Ten: Making the Voices of Victims Heard
Chapter Eleven: The Human Hand Behind Natural Disasters: The Ugandan Experience
Part Four: Psychosocial Interventions
Chapter Twelve: Cultural Sensitivity in Psychosocial Interventions Following a Disaster: A Tri-national Collaboration in Sri Lanka
Chapter Thirteen: Psychological Outcomes of the 2001 World Trade Center Attack
Chapter Fourteen: Social Work Students During Wartime: False Effect of Professional Self-efficacy?
Chapter Fifteen: Shared Traumatic Reality: Social Work Students and Clients in an Area Under Attack
Part Five: Conclusion
Chapter Sixteen: From Helping to Changing
Editors
Contributors