Application: Types of Crises/Disasters
What is a crisis? Crisis definition is fundamental to understanding types of crises or disasters. The definitions of crises and types of disasters are numerous. Most definitions involve perception and the loss of resources for dealing with a situation. Types of disasters include natural, man-made, organizational, and personal crises. By understanding the definition of crisis you will broaden your understanding of the types of disasters.
To prepare for this assignment:
- Review Chapter 1 in both of your course texts, Crisis Intervention Strategies and Crisis Management in the New Strategy Landscape, to understand the interplay of crisis definition and types of crises.
- Think about a crisis you have experienced and how this fits into a definition of crisis and a type(s) of crisis(es).
- Think about a crisis of which you are aware and consider how crisis perception and loss of resources for dealing with a crisis impact psychological responses and/or reactions to the situation.
- Think about various types of crises (e.g., natural disasters, school/workplace shootings, terrorism, military trauma, etc.) and their similarities and differences.
- Review Dr. Baron’s video program, “On the Road to . . . Peace of Mind,” and focus on the importance of training the trainers about responding to crisis planning with an understanding of local culture and traditions in mind. Then note the types of crises and disasters the training group might respond to. (Note: When Dr. Baron is talking about counselors in this particular film, she is referencing local lay people and not fully-trained counselors such as you and your colleagues.)
- Review Dr. Baggerly’s video program, “Disaster Mental Health and Crisis Stabilization for Children” and focus on the importance of training the trainers who work with children rather than adults. Then note the types of crises and disasters the training group might respond to.
- Review the various crisis-responding roles of national and international organizations you wrote about in this week’s Discussion and how these roles might differ depending on the type of crisis.
The assignment: (4–6 pages)
- Compare types of crises (e.g., natural disasters, school/workplace shootings, terrorism, military trauma, etc.), making sure to outline their similarities and differences.
- Describe the crisis-responding roles of national and international organizations for each type of crisis you discussed above.
- Then briefly describe any insights and/or conclusions you gained from completing this assignment.
