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medpundit |
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Saturday, May 03, 2003A half-century of disaster research yields a largely sanguine picture of human response in the face of uncertainty, calamity and fear. The Center for Disaster Research at the University of Delaware has conducted hundreds of studies of natural disasters, chemical emergencies and building collapses. Over and over, researchers have found that people rarely panic or lapse into passivity. Lee Clarke, a Rutgers University sociologist, has observed: "The rules of behavior in extreme situations are not much different from rules of ordinary life. . . . The most consistent pattern in disasters is that people connect in the aftermath and work to rebuild their physical and cultural environments." Most people are resilient and adapt well. They prefer to cope--and can cope--on their own. But the very idea that a potent stress could pose an ennobling challenge to the human spirit is the minority view among trauma professionals. posted by Sydney on 5/03/2003 08:33:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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