Israel is a country at war. Children in this country are born into a continual life threat and exposed to endless stress. Previous research studies regarding children who had experienced war related trauma reported that many children did not discuss their traumatic symptoms with their parents. In addition, parents tended to believe that their children forgot or developed resistance to the trauma they experienced while the children reported that they still experience post traumatic symptoms. This discrepancy was the foundation of this current study. By asking fifteen Israeli children their opinions on what a good parent is and exploring their thoughts and feelings regarding terrorism, this qualitative research attempted to gain a better understanding of children's perceptions of good parenting during a time of continued terrorism threat. A mixed format of telephone and in-person semi structured interviews was used. Data analysis was implemented through content analysis. Identification of meaningful themes and categories was obtained via systematic assessment of each of the interview transcripts. Eleven distinct categories emerged regarding children's perceptions of good parenting. The majority of the children in this study perceived a good parent as a parent who would not scream or punish his or her children, who would take care of them and protect them, and who would be available for them by helping them and by spending time with them. Children's thoughts and feelings regarding terrorism were described through seven different categories (a) fear (this category included three sub categories: general feeling of fear, fear of being in a terror attack, and danger and lack of safety; (b) the effort to forget; (c) the routine of living under the threat of terror; (d) the worry for relatives and friends; (e) sadness; (f) general negative statements; and (g) hate or anger toward terrorists. Possible connections between the participants' perceptions of good parenting and the

The serious outcomes of crises, such as diminished public confidence and the death of people and wildlife, illustrate the importance of preparing for organizational crises. Serious threats of terrorism, rapid advances in medical technology, increasing complexity of social problems, and increased scrutiny of public agencies suggests that public health organizations are ripe for organizational crises. This study aimed to explore the levels of crisis preparedness in local North Carolina public health departments. The first phase of this study included the creation of a crisis typology by public health practitioners. The resulting typology revealed 7 categories of organizational crises: Disasters, Personnel, Quality Assurance, Legal, Public Relations, Political, and Plant/Equipment. The second phase of the study used a comprehensive systems model of crisis preparedness (DTP Model of Preparedness) to assess the level of preparedness of local health departments to prevent and respond to the different types of crises. Health departments considered crisis prepared have human, cultural, and structural characteristics that support crisis prevention and response activities. They also have written strategies, such as crisis plans and media relations procedures, which provide a systematic framework for responding to a variety of crisis situations. A written survey sent to local health directors and interviews and document reviews at 5 public health departments provided valuable insight into the level of crisis preparedness of health departments. Key findings included an over-estimation of organizational preparedness by health directors and seven significant gaps in the dimensions of the preparedness model. Local health directors felt most prepared to deal with situations related to quality assurance, legal issues or personnel concerns and least prepared to manage emergencies such as terrorist acts or kidnapping. Health departments did have some crisis preparedness structures and

The increase in terrorist attacks over the past 15 years has resulted in unprecedented TV coverage of terrorism and discussion of future attacks. The present study investigated the efficacy of Coping and Media Literacy (CML) in helping youth cope with terrorism-related news. CML was compared to Discussion as Usual (DAU) and No Discussion (ND) via a randomized control design. Ninety community youth (aged 7-13) and their mothers viewed a selected televised news clip about the risk of future terrorism; participating youth and mothers completed measures of threat perception and state anxiety at pre-clip, post-clip, and post-discussion period. Random assignment determined how mothers were instructed to spend the discussion period following their viewing of the clip. Prior to viewing the clip, mothers underwent preparation for the condition to which they were assigned. Children responded to the news clip with elevated societal threat perceptions, personal threat perceptions, and state anxiety. Children of CML-trained mothers exhibited lower threat perceptions following mother-child discussion of terrorism-related news than DAU youth. Additionally, CML-trained mothers exhibited lower threat perceptions and state anxiety following news exposure and discussion than did DAU mothers. Exploratory analyses examined predictors of youth response to the news clip and to each of the three conditions. Findings document the benefits of providing parents with empirically based strategies for addressing terrorism-related news with their children. Implications are discussed and suggestions for future empirical efforts are offered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

This analysis of survivor characterizations of their experiences, reactions and spiritual journeys during and since the September 11, 2001 (9.11) attacks on the United States of America was utilized to explore the transitory nature of the human spirit (Frankl, 1984) when confronted with terrorist violence. Through the intense examination of personal narratives given by 18 survivors of the (9.11) terrorist attack in Washington, DC, this qualitative study highlights apparent patterns and repetitive themes in survivor accounts of their experiences in the midst of and subsequent to the attack. The narratives were procured through a series of in-depth interviews conducted in Washington, DC during the months of April and May 2003. The research findings of this study are substantive and confirmatory; they are supported with rich narrative data to enhance scholarly understanding of the human experience of terrorist-generated trauma and the paths taken by survivors to heal. The first finding of this study is that survivors' religious beliefs and faith can be especially activated during those moments when they perceive the greatest threat to their lives. The second finding involves survivors overwhelming belief that God is the author of their lives and as such, He saved their lives on September 11, 2001. The third key finding is also related to the concept of spiritual beliefs and it involves survivors' perceptions that in the midst of their struggle to survive they were unable to access their own resources so instead, they accessed those of God. The fourth finding is related to the topic of dispiriting trauma and indicates that although victims of terrorist violence do experience signs and symptoms of dispiritedness, it is unlikely that they will experience a spiritual death (Galtung, 1985). Fifth, the data from this study has indicated that conflict stimulates the transitory nature of the human spirit; consequently, experiences of conflict can be inherently transformative.

The world as we know it changed dramatically on September 11th, 2001. Since that crisp, clear day, when terrorists hijacked four commercial jetliners and killed thousands of innocent people, national and international politics have not been the same. Those dreadful events taught us about the cruelty of modern terrorism and forced us as educators to revise many of our assumptions about leadership, teaching, and global issues. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of Superintendents concerning the impact of disaster and tragedy upon the role of their school organization. Ten telephonic interviews were conducted using Superintendents of Schools within the State of New Jersey who were in close proximity to the September 11th tragedy in an attempt to bring to light their perceptions, feelings, and attitudes regarding the impact of disaster and tragedy upon their respective school districts. Specifically, the study sought to unearth data in the form of common themes, feelings, and patterns through individual qualitative interviews to determine the extent of the impact of the September 11th disaster upon their school districts in Hudson County, New Jersey as well as their resiliency to adapt to the ongoing threat of tragedy. Throughout this study, findings within the literature review as well as analysis of the data derived from intensive qualitative interviews suggest multiple issues emerging that will need to be considered for further investigation. The questions sought to target program and policy issues, curriculum, and psychological concerns regarding the current impact of disaster and tragedy upon the subject's school district as well as the modifications and preparations that were in place for future events. The questions were constructed in an open-ended format and the subjects were encouraged to speak freely with minimal interruptions or prompts. The responses varied but were consistent in that no district was adequately prepared for such a disa

This study was designed to empirically investigate whether there was a relationship between perceived social support and cumulative levels of secondary traumatic stress symptoms of intrusion, avoidance, increased arousal, anxiety, and numbing/depression in disaster workers. The study also explored whether there was a relationship between the perceived severity of combat experience, personal trauma, and disaster work which had occurred prior to the study, and levels of cumulative secondary traumatic stress symptoms. The research was conducted in 1999 in Israel. Of 165 forensic technicians working at the time in the Israeli Police Forensic Identification Unit, 125 were contacted either directly or by mail. The total sample included 90 forensic technicians (74% response rate). 81 of the respondents were interviewed, and 9 responded by mail. The sample was predominantly male (94.5%). In their work, which included handling of human remains following terrorist attacks, severe car accidents, and homicides, these technicians fulfilled a disaster relief function that is regarded as extremely stressful. Furthermore, the sample and their whole community have been living under prolonged war and terrorism-related stress. A questionnaire consisting of four sections was administered to the participants in face-to-face interviews that were conducted at 12 of the 15 Forensic Investigation Unit regional offices scattered throughout Israel. Questionnaires were filled in anonymously. The four sections of the questionnaire included the following tools: (a) the Impact of Event Scale to measure intrusion and avoidance; (b) the 12 item General Health Questionnaire to measure the distress symptoms of increased arousal, anxiety and numbing/depression; (c) the Social Support Questionnaire to measure the perceived social support; and (d) a demographic sheet, including items measuring the perceived severity of combat, personal trauma and disaster work prior to the study. The study's findings di