Three psychological principles of resilience in natural disasters

Purpose - The purpose of this conceptual paper is to present a discussion of some of the core components of human resilience occurring in the face of natural or human-made disasters. Resilience is often observed, but optimum responding is more than biological survival. Resilience implies the ability...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Disaster prevention and management 2006-10, Vol.15 (5), p.793-798
Main Author: Reich, John W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Behavior
Control
Disaster management
Disasters
Emergency preparedness
Hurricanes
Natural disasters
Plans
Principles
Private sector
Psychology
Social sciences
Studies
Tsunamis
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Summary:Purpose - The purpose of this conceptual paper is to present a discussion of some of the core components of human resilience occurring in the face of natural or human-made disasters. Resilience is often observed, but optimum responding is more than biological survival. Resilience implies the ability to bounce back and even to grow in the face of threats to survival. It is important to incorporate these key psychological principles into disaster planning.Design methodology approach - Research from the social sciences suggests three core principles of resilience, the "3 Cs:" control, coherence, and connectedness. Research evidence supporting the importance of the three Cs to resilient responding is presented, followed by some elementary prescriptions for how they might be implemented.Findings - An approach to disaster planning and management can meld these principles into already-existing intervention techniques, creating a more comprehensive and a more integrated response, potentially resulting in improved intervention effectiveness.Originality value - Provides a psychological perspective on natural and human-created disasters. Governmental and private sector responses to these tragedies have received a great deal of media attention, but there has been little systematic attention paid to the basic nature of human responding in such situations. Although it has been noted that humans are often resilient in such conditions, there has been virtually nothing written about what "resilience" is. This paper communicates the basic principles of resilience and how they would play out in future disaster planning and responding.
ISSN:0965-3562
1758-6100
DOI:10.1108/09653560610712739