Citizens place their trust in governments to protect them from current terrorist threats and possible future attacks. Yet, as has been shown in this chapter, individuals willingly and complacently relinquish civil liberties to their governments believing that this sacrifice makes them safer. By focusing on the evil and spectacle of terrorism, a danger arises "of distorting rational analysis not only about the probability of terrorism", but also about "the best way to prevent it and limit its harms". (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)

Natural disasters and terrorist acts, while distinct in many ways (e.g., hurricanes or tsunamis can sometimes be predicted ahead of time, in contrast to acts of terrorism), share the fact that they can impact multiple levels of a young person's life. For instance, depending on the nature and magnitude of the event, a youngster's home may be damaged, his or her neighborhood may be destroyed, and/or his or her social network may be shattered. Moreover, a parent's place of employment may have been destroyed, leading to financial concerns, or worse, a loved one may have been seriously injured or killed. Such events can disrupt children's beliefs about safety, predictability, and protection from harm, contributing to the loss of one's known routines and experiences and even lost trust or faith. Schools can serve a critical role in responding comprehensively to these children's needs. Schools are a core element of a community's fabric, serving as a source of continuity and structure, facilitating connections between community members, and providing stability during difficult times. Schools can help children and families reclaim normalcy, reestablish routines, and rebuild a sense of safety and security. In this regard, schools possess many characteristics that can facilitate recovery for children, families, and the community at large. Indeed, as a "critical context for action, outreach, and support" following a disaster or terrorist act, schools can be leaders in efforts to meet the needs of children and families and in establishing networks of supports, services, and resources. Such efforts will facilitate the well-being of those with whom they work and increase the likelihood that students, teachers, and schools will attain their academic goals. Many sources have described schools as prime settings for assessment, intervention, and support following trauma'”not only are they a structured context in which to establish the infrastructure for such steps, but also they are a

With The Society of Timid Souls, or How to Be Brave, documentary filmmaker Polly Morland sets out to investigate bravery, a quality that she has always felt she lacked. The book takes inspiration from a vividly eccentric, and radical, self-help group for stage-frightened performers in 1940s Manhattan, which coincided with the terrifying height of World War II and was called the Society of Timid Souls. Seventy years later, as anxiety about everything from terrorism to economic meltdown continues, Morland argues that courage has become a virtue in crisis. We are, she says, all Timid Souls now. Despite a career in which she has filmed in rebel-held Colombian jungles and at the edge of Balkan mass graves, interviewing convicted murderers, drug traffickers, and terrorists, Morland herself has never felt brave. Often, the very reverse. So she sets out to discover how and why courage is achieved in an age of anxiety and whether it might even be learned. Drawing on her interviews and encounters with soldiers and civilians, bullfighters and big-wave surfers, dissidents fighting for freedom and cancer patients fighting for their lives, Morland examines bravery across the spectrum: from the first childhood act of defiance by Bernard Lafayette, a leader of the civil rights movement who later faced down the KKK in Alabama, and the reflexive will to survive of Vjollca Berisha, a Kosovo Albanian who endured a massacre by playing dead among the bodies of her own family, to the small acts of everyday bravery that quietly punctuate our lives, in schoolyards, labor wards, and hospices the world over. Along the way Morland draws attention to some of the myths of bravery that have been conjured and perpetuated over time and argues that, often, courage exists as much in the telling as in the doing. At once an exploration of what bravery means and a chronicle of the author's personal journey among those who embody it. The Society of Timid Souls is a profound, approachable meditation on th

In recent years, devastating natural disasters (e.g., hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, tsunamis) and acts of violence (e.g., school shootings, terrorist attacks) have focused attention on how such potentially traumatic events affect children and adolescents. Substantial evidence indicates that exposure to such events may cause children and adolescents significant distress and psychological impairment. In the context of these potentially traumatic events, it is critical to understand how disasters and acts of terrorism affect children and adolescents, and how to help them cope with and recover from such events. Developing appropriate interventions for children's and adolescents' reactions to disasters and acts of terrorism, and preventing serious, persistent adjustment problems in their aftermath, has become an incredibly challenging and important mental health concern. This chapter provides a review of current knowledge on evidence-based approaches to treating children following disasters and acts of terrorism. The first main section of the chapter focuses on youths' psychological reactions and is followed by a brief review of key risk and protective factors associated with youths' posttraumatic reactions. This material sets the stage for the main chapter section that focuses on the current state of prevention and intervention research, including programs advocated for the immediate aftermath of a disaster/terrorist attack and cognitive-behavioral treatments for children and adolescents who evidence persistent stress reactions. The chapter concludes with a discussion of "best practices" and highlights some of the challenges to delivering psychological interventions in the aftermath of disasters and acts of terrorism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)

Terrorism can be conceptually distinguished from other types of violence based on several unique characteristics: (1) it is premeditated, (2) it is designed to create deep and widespread fear, (3) its effects are directed at a wider audience than the immediate physical target, (4) it involves attacks on symbolic targets or random attacks on civilians, (5) it is viewed by society as violating the norms of dispute regulation and dissent, and (6) it is typically used to influence political behavior of governments, communities, or social groups (Schmid & Jongman, 1988; Wilkinson, 1997). The goal of a terrorist attack is thus not simply to injure and kill people but to also disrupt the broader community and diminish the public's sense of safety by terrorizing the entire population. These distinctive characteristics may serve to magnify mental health effects in comparison with other types of disasters. Terrorism is a specific type of disaster within a broader category of disasters or mass casualty incidents (North & Suris, 2011). The typology of disasters is broadly conceptualized as falling into three major categories of causality: (1) natural disasters such as floods, tornados, hurricanes, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions; (2) technological accidents such as mass transportation accidents (e.g., plane crashes), structural collapses, and explosions caused by human error rather than intent; and (3) willful human-caused incidents of mass violence such as mass shootings in the workplace or in public, and domestic or international terrorism. Terrorism is a specific type of willful human-caused disaster, differentiated from other acts of intentional mass violence by its ideological and political motives and its operation outside of societal norms. The understanding that the distinctive characteristics of terrorism and agents of mass destruction can be expected to have different mental health consequences compared with other kinds of disasters and mass violence incidents may

What are the psychological needs of today's service members, and how can they be met effectively? What roles do mental health professionals play in enhancing operational readiness and responding to disasters and terrorism? Comprehensively addressing these critical questions, this authoritative work presents the latest research, clinical interventions, and training recommendations. The revised and updated second edition features new chapters on acute combat stress, post-deployment psychological problems, and ethics, as well as coverage of blast concussion screening and evaluation. The editors and contributors include experts from different military branches and others who work with military personnel. They offer clinical and procedural guidelines for conducting fitness-for-duty evaluations and other types of assessments. Best practices are outlined for treating frequently encountered mental health problems'”such as posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, traumatic brain injury, suicidality, and substance abuse'”and for promoting all service members' health and well-being. Interventions for military personnel and civilians following large-scale disasters are discussed. The volume also examines operational applications: consulting for survival training and hostage negotiation, understanding terrorist motivation, assessing and selecting high-risk operational personnel, and more. Ethical dilemmas in treatment settings, expeditionary environments, combat zones, and other practice environments are thoughtfully explored. The book is solidly grounded in the scientific evidence base, while incorporating lessons learned from recent military initiatives and geopolitical events. All psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers and counselors working with service members and veterans will want to keep this book close at hand, as will military leaders seeking guidance on the psychological effects of combat, blast concussion, and other military stressors. (PsycINFO Database Reco

Clinicians will become more skilled in recognizing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and acute stress syndromes in patients who have survived various catastrophic experiences and will be offered guidelines for the psychosocial and psychopharmacological management of such conditions. In this chapter, Drs. North and Surís defines three main types of disasters: natural ones, such as earthquakes; technological ones, such as accidental explosions; and attacks generated willfully by humans. Disaster survivors represent a population different from victims of individual calamities, such as automobile accidents and assaults. Personal trauma in general is associated with characteristics such as lower socioeconomic status, previous psychiatric illness, substance abuse, and novelty seeking, risk-taking personality traits'”all of which tend to predict a poorer outcome following the traumatic event. After reviewing the diagnostic criteria for PTSD, Drs. North and Surís point out that the most robust and reliable predictors of PTSD following disasters are female gender and predisaster psychopathology. After disasters, PTSD usually develops quickly; the delayed PTSD described in adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse and combat veterans is not typical of postdisaster experience. After considering issues such as chronicity and comorbidity, they go on to review psychosocial interventions and psychotherapeutic and pharmacologic treatments. Cognitive behavioral therapies (CBTs) have been shown to be effective in treating PTSD, while antidepressants are the mainstay of pharmacotherapy for PTSD. The September 11 terrorist attacks brought the subject of disasters into sharp new focus in our nation's attention. Concerns about the specter of massive terrorism now lurk much larger than the usual transportation accidents, natural disasters, and other devastating catastrophes that had come to be almost routine in the news media. In the wake of the September 11 attacks, recog

Since the September 11 th attack, an increased sense of urgency and awareness exists in emergency planning in both private and public sectors. In particular, state and local governments, as well as response organizations, have focused on preparing for and responding to acts of domestic terrorism. Based on 2004 RAND Corporation survey results, the lack of progress and level of improvement that various states have made to their response capabilities for dealing with terrorist incidents has become a growing concern. State and local law enforcement agencies have assumed new terrorism-related responsibilities. With these additional responsibilities, law enforcement agencies are expected to bear greater burdens due to the shift in federal priorities. With the increased traumatic situations and critical incidences that are recognized as part of the officers' daily routine, higher stress levels also are inevitable for this high-risk profession. Post 9/11, officers in law enforcement agencies have experienced increased exposure to stressors that can affect them physically and emotionally. In addition to being concerned with typical types of criminal activities (e.g., theft, homicide, domestic violence, etc.), police officers also are responsible for protecting the public from domestic and foreign terrorism. This chapter discusses sources of stress associated with increased terrorist activities and the psychological effects that exposure to these stressors can have on people in law enforcement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)

This chapter addresses the events of the years 2000 to 2004, otherwise known as the "Second" or "Al-Aksa" Intifada (a term that translates to "uprising" or "shaking off"). This series of events was the deadliest and the longest wave of terror experienced by Israel. Starting in late September 2000, the events quickly escalated into a full fledged, semi-organized campaign. Terrorist acts spread into the heart of Israel. The casualty toll grew monthly, reaching a peak of 77 in the "Black March" of 2002. Previously assumed boundaries to violence were breached, as exemplified by the January 17, 2002, attack on a Bar Mitzva celebration in the small town of Hadera, the March 17, 2002, suicide bomb attack of the public Passover Seder in Park Hotel, Netania (which left 22 dead and 140 injured), or the July 31, 2002, bombing of a presumed sanctuary of learning and research: the Frank Sinatra cafeteria at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. The chapter reviews the published literature on terror and reactions to terror in Israel during the second intifada. It presents facts concerning terrorist attacks and their immediate victims. It then reviews the range of psychological reactions to terrorism, putative moderators of these reactions, and the effect of terror on different segments of the population. We conclude by considering resiliency, endurance, and growth under threat. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)

The terrorist attacks on the Central London transport network on July 7, 2005, killed 52 commuters and caused approximately 700 injuries. The attacks marked the first major attack on the U.K. mainland since the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) had ceased its bombing campaign nearly 10 years previously. At first it was unclear what had happened; initial reports suggested there might have been a power surge before the explosions on London's underground railway system, which is known as the Tube. However, when a London commuter bus exploded in Tavistock Square, just north of the center of the city, at 9:47 a.m., it became clear it was the work of terrorists. The July 7th bombing affected Londoners in a similar manner to other communities impacted by terrorism. A substantial minority were distressed in the initial weeks, and many months later only a small proportion continued to show signs of distress. Our data suggests that it is difficult to predict those who might be especially at risk of developing psychological difficulties after terrorist activity; however, established risk factors (such as proximity to the incident) were found to be valid. We recommend that emergency planners should be cognizant of the limited psychological evidence available to them and include research as part of their post disaster management planning. We also suggest that even more priority should be given toward maintaining communication not just with those affected (always a priority and concern for governments in this age of instant media) but between those affected, since the latter is important for both short- and long-term resilience. It is far more effective, and cost-effective, to mobilize people's existing social networks and resources than to provide alternative ones. Lastly, although there is much that is known about how communities are affected by disaster, there is much more that remains to be investigated. As it is inevitable that disasters and terrorism will continue aro