Human conflict often involves groups that share the same territory and reside within the same region or state. In this chapter we consider how these intergroup processes have a bearing on the provision of a therapeutic response to people who, as a consequence of such conflicts, develop psychological problems, particularly post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Such inter-group dynamics are not usually as relevant to the treatment of PTSD arising from traumas not related to civil conflict. As violence reduces, the improved context can assist the treatment of PTSD, for example, by facilitating the use of behaviour experiments. However, it is important to recognize that PTSD can also be effectively treated whilst conflict prevails. Indeed, as societies emerge from conflict, violence does not instantly end but remains in many forms for a considerable period of time. The recent 30-year conflict in Northern Ireland has produced much suffering (McKitterick, Kelter, Feeney, & Thornton, 1999), significant numbers have experienced multiple traumas (Muldoon, Schmid, Downes, Kremer, & Trew, 2004), and have suffered from psychological problems including chronic PTSD for many years (Shevlin & McGuigan, 2003). One of the damaging effects of civil conflict is that communities are torn apart and inter-group attitudes become extremely polarized. Since 1998, the Omagh-based trauma team has been providing cognitive therapy (CT) for PTSD (Ehlers & Clark, 2000; Ehlers, Clark, Hackmann, McManus, & Fennell, 2005) to people affected by terrorism and other civil conflict. The team has published two studies of the effectiveness of CT for PTSD, first with victims of a single incident car bombing (Gillespie, Duffy, Hackmann, & Clark, 2002), and more recently with a chronic and comorbid population (Duffy, Gillespie, & Clark, 2007). This chapter addresses specific features of the application of the cognitive model in this context of ongoing civil conflict and terrorist violence. The cases that fo

Recently (Echebarria & Fernandez, 2006) we carried out a quasi-experimental study on the effects of the terrorist attacks against the railways in Madrid that found that these attacks provoked a generalized prejudiced directed no only against groups esigned as the responsible of the attacks but also against other no related group (Jews). Furthermore, a generalized displacement toward more conservative values and political options was also found. Two follows-up experimental studies designed to analyse the socio-psychological processes that can underlie these changes are presented. The first study manipulated through pictures the salience of death-related thoughts without involving any personal or group based threat. The generalized increment of prejudices and group bias are replied but only at an implicit level. The second study proved that the mortality salience affects how social dilemmas are approached. Participants assigned to the mortality salient condition approached a health related dilemma in terms of losses independently of how it was experimental framed. In contrast, control participants shifted their elections in function to the experimental manipulation. The implications of these results in terms of understanding the effects of terrorism from the Terror Management Theory are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)

Mass terrorism has an impact on children that exceeds the loss of life and property. More than 3,000 children and teenagers lost parents on September 11, 2001, in the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history. Even those children who did not lose a parent were affected. Thousands witnessed the terror firsthand from their homes and schools, while millions more saw the destruction of New York City's World Trade Center towers on television. This chapter discusses the use of art therapy in recovery from traumatic grief academically and through case studies. Interventions with children whose parents died in these attacks demonstrate the role of creativity in healing. [Text, p. 81]

It is critical to understand how disasters and terrorist attacks affect children and how they cope with and recover from such events. Developing interventions for children's reactions to natural disasters and acts of terrorism and preventing serious, persistent adjustment problems in their aftermath have become challenging and important mental health concerns. The goal of this chapter is to review evidence-based approaches to treating children following these kinds of traumatic events. To set the stage for this review, the first chapter section describes the symptoms and prevalence of PTSD in children following disasters and acts of terrorism as well as other trauma-related reactions. The second section briefly describes risk factors for posttraumatic stress reactions. The third section reviews the current state of intervention research. The chapter ends with a summary of best practices for delivering interventions in the aftermath of disasters/terrorism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)

The negative impact of terrorism on people and communities is well known. But there is also increasing evidence of positive elements and, eventually, of possible posttraumatic growth associated with the individual and community impact of terrorist acts. In this chapter, we review those elements. Social and community aspects are difficult to assess, but it is essential to study the community impact of terrorism because the goal of terrorist acts is to intimidate society as a whole. Therefore, social researchers and mental health professionals should look at the effects, both negative and positive, that terrorism may have on society in addition to its direct impact on individuals. [Text, p. 63]

Terrorist attacks can spread fear and anxiety throughout a nation or geographic area well beyond the area of the specific physical threat; indeed, that is the objective of such acts. There are ways people can adapt in the face of terrorism. Clinical research has broadened its focus to take account of postevent trajectories that include the means by which a person may maintain, return to, or exceed pretrauma levels of functioning (positive trajectories), in addition to those presentations that involve disturbance, decline, and permanent disability (negative trajectories). To understand the nature and course of adaptation following a traumatic experience, it is necessary to examine the process of that adaptation over time, rather than just a final cross-sectional presentation. In an attempt to understand this course of development, research has highlighted factors that contribute to the adaptation process including specific features of the traumatic experience, the individual's personality and history, trauma history, personality factors, emotional regulation and coping, cognitive representations of the experience, and environmental factors. A critical aspect to ultimate adaptation is the survivors' ability to manage their distress, underscoring the role of coping strategies in ongoing adaptation to trauma. Factors known to influence positive adaptation following adversity can also be optimized in the process of psychotherapy. In some cases, distress may be a necessary antecedent or impetus to the process of growth. Finally, resilience can be viewed as a buffer that can be fostered at any stage of the recovery process and as a collection of resources that can be drawn on in the promotion of growth in the therapeutic process. Although additional research is needed to fully delineate the protective processes and mechanisms that enable resilience and positive adaptation in the face of adversity, therapy can be an important venue to optimize an individual's resilience and

In the past decade, America's response to emergency and disaster, whether it is man-made or naturally occurring, has garnered attention and galvanized the focus of our nation. This focus has included on-going planning and risk assessment for all-hazards events, and has outlined best practices in emergency planning, response, and recovery phases following a disaster. As part of this focus, a new and emerging role for counselors can be found through the integration of counselors as members of emergency response teams. Counselors can contribute their knowledge, skills and expertise in the planning, response, and recovery phases of emergency response. The skills of the counselor were called upon heavily in disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, particularly in acute response efforts and subsequent long-term recovery. In the time since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, local, state and federal planning efforts have increasingly focused on multi-agency, multi-disciplinary response procedures for disaster preparedness. The National Response Framework (NRF), established by Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD)-5, delineates incident management activities, including how to prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from terrorism, major natural disasters and other major emergencies (2004). The counselor should become familiar with components of the National Response Framework, specifically the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and the Incident Command System (ICS). The NIMS system provides a template for incident management regardless of size, scope or cause. Counselors that understand ICS can join with a multidisciplinary team in disaster response. Counselors will provide the team with unique skills and a behavioral health focus. Listed below are areas that counselors have historically had an impact, as well as new areas where counselors can provide assistance in disaster response. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapte

The project in the current chapter examined and compared responses of graduate students at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel to acts of terrorism in their homeland and to the September 11 attacks in the US. In early 2002, students from two graduate classes in the Department of Social Work participated in a three-step project that included drawing activities, writing a narrative, and group discussion. Twenty-seven students were placed into two groups. Students in one group were asked to give responses to the terrorist attacks in the US on September 11, 2001; students in the second group were asked to give responses to the ongoing acts of terrorism in Israel. The participants in both groups demonstrated powerful reactions to all forms of terrorism and to their first-hand experience of ongoing terrorism in Israel. The participants showed their strong sense of connection to the US both before and after the September 11 terrorist attack. The researchers identified categories of visual and narrative responses. Comparisons of the frequencies of these responses are presented in the following report. Finally, the authors present their own separate reflections show the differing cultural backgrounds that influenced our perceptions of the students' responses and experiences of terrorism in Israel. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: create)

Terrorist attacks and continuing threats coupled with frequent disasters of natural and accidental origin compel the attention of professionals involved in injury and violence prevention interventions. Potential psychosocial consequences associated with terrorism and disasters include distress, changed attitudes and behavior, and psychiatric morbidity. Although psychiatric morbidity, including but not limited to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), is generally confined to individuals directly affected or endangered by an incident or those with close ties to victims and survivors, less severe reactions maybe pervasive and extend to people outside the immediate vicinity of an event. These reactions can be addressed on an individual basis or in small groups (such as within families, in the workplace, or in school classrooms) and through a variety of medical and psychosocial interventions before, during, and after the disaster. Another approach--one that complements attention to individual needs--is for elected, appointed, or informal leaders, in concert with a diverse mixture of community coalitions, to prevent or reduce adverse psychological, health, and social outcomes through building community resilience. This may also be a more comprehensive health protection strategy. This chapter provides a preliminary framework for examining community resilience in relation to mass trauma events. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: chapter)

This chapter reviews the literature bearing on clinical interventions with diverse communities in the chaotic aftermath of a terrorist attack. [Text, p. 338] TOPICS TREATED: General considerations; Ethnic minority status and treatment (Family history in the United States; Legal status and personal history of immigration; English fluency versus fluency in other languages; Social supports available through the family; Community resources; Educational attainment; Loss of social status; Stresses experienced as a result of the acculturation experience); Considerations specific to terrorism (History of exposure to traumatic events; The invisible minorities: vulnerable and unprotected; Guilt by association: clinical interventions with those falsely identified as terrorists); Technology and intervention: a new frontier; Planning for the future (Federal and state responses; The community level; At the level of the individual).