Addressing disasters: A novelty for orthodox clinical practitioners and researchers in psychology

1. Addressing disasters: A novelty for orthodox clinical practitioners and researchers in psychology A.J.W. Taylor PhDEmeritus Professor of PsychologyVictoria University of Wellington tony.taylor@vuw.ac.nz

2. To acknowledge the Trojan efforts of all psychologists involved in the never-ending sequence of Canterbury earthquakes - including the academics who in recent years have worked steadfastly to adapt the subject to meet numerous community needs

3. Abstract • Although disasters of one kind or another have occurred since the dawn of history, only recently have they attracted the attention of psychologists • In ancient times, rulers sought explanations for their occurrence from prophets and seers. With the emergence of scientific disciplines, pioneers soughtexplanations other than the supernatural to account for them - while others sought safer ground • This paper, developed in the quietus following the hiatus of involvement in a few disasters of different kind at home and abroad, touches on some of the matters that came to mind

4. Classification, definition, and a model to integrate disasters • Disasters are catastrophic events that seriously disrupt the everyday functioning of communities, court death and destruction, and make recovery difficult without extra help from outside agencies. • They led to the preparation of a progressive series of models to embrace and compare disasters of many different kinds

5. Elements, factors, stages • Age-old categorisation relates primarily to the major elements of earth, air, fire, and water, together with the biological as a category to cover organic and inorganic agents of disaster: a second differentiates natural, industrial, and human factors: and the third adopts the familiar four-fold empirical stages of preparation, response, recovery, and mitigation.

7. Victims/Casualties • Designation puts prime focus on the living • Avoids dire effects of labelling • Uses +ve aspects of the placebo, and avoids -ve aspects of the nocebo • Instils hope rather than dependency and helplessness • Retains specific needs of, and within, different groups

8. Six Casualty groups • The primary are those who suffer directly from catastrophe • The secondary are the family members and close friends of the primary who develop symptoms vicariously • The tertiary casualties are the workers in all types of agency who succumb as a result of their post-impact assignments

9. Groups of Casualty contd. • Although clinically the quaternary group of casualties might be symptom-free, it has a disruptive nuisance value It consists of the well-intentioned but emotionally labile people in the community at large who identify with the primary group and act inappropriately themselves – some expressing ‘compassion fatigue’ The quinternary group of disaster casualties consists of the troubled and the troublesome with pathological proclivities that in times of phantasmagoria lose their self-control. The troubled indulge their fantasies by indulging in voyeuristic activities, collecting pictures of body parts, and even expressing

10. Casualty Groups contd. • Thequinternary group of disaster casualties consists of the troubled and the troublesome with pathological proclivities that in times of phantasmagoria lose their self-control. The troubled indulge their fantasies through voyeuristic activities, collecting pictures of body parts, and expressing necrophilic desires • The troublesome are those who in times of social chaos go on the rampage to loot, plunder, and riot. Their more calculating and sophisticated counterparts (with greater impulse control), play on sympathy for their own benefit, commit theft, house-breaking, & insurance fraud.

11. Casualty Groups contd. • The final category, the sesternary, is for the miscellaneous group that has a diverse array of links to disaster, and present problems with which they have difficulty in coping. It includes those that but for chance would themselves have been primary victims and who torment themselves with questions as to why they were saved from tragedy • It also includes those who in all innocence had persuaded their friends and acquaintances to go into a situation that subsequently became disastrous, as well as those who consider that their activity or inactivity had brought about a given disaster

12. Casualty Groups contd. • The miscellaneous group also includes trauma workers and researchers, who in their post-disaster work are sometimes unaware of the insidious effects of strain and fatigue upon themselves…..consider the fourfold Maori conception of health - physical, mental, social, and spiritual… and the APA advice to its members after 9/11…..

13. Extraneous issues • When, where, and how to triage • Ditto… to intervene • Ditto… to establish baseline parameters & follow-up • Ditto… to accommodate cross-cultural factors – beliefs (pagan & religious), family/social structures, ceremonies, customs, language • Prevent worker-fatigue • Appreciate in-group humour • Be accountable professionally and academically (epistemologically) • Accept follow-up responsibilities • Maintain own obligations…personal, family, professional practice • Contemplate terrorism/warfare/corporate malfeasance/economic devastation/justice • Share observations/data/insights…mortuaries, news media, debrief in situ

14. Australasian Journal of Disaster and Trauma Studies. (2012). Special issue: A focus on the Canterbury earthquakes - accessed 9th December 2011 from http://trauma.massey.ac.nz. • New Zealand Psychologist. (2012). Psychology & disasters: A special issue with emphasis on research and practice in the months of earthquakes in Canterbury, New Zealand, from September 2010. 40, 8. • Paton, D., & Long, N. (Eds). (1996). Psychological aspects of disasters: Impact, coping and intervention. Palmerston North: Dunmore. • Searle, W. (1994). Disasters and social science: a New Zealand bibliography : an annotated bibliography of New Zealand literature relevant to the social science study of disasters. Wellington: Department of Internal Affairs. • Taylor, A.J.W. (2007). Defusing terrorism of terror. In B. Bongar, L. Beutler, P. Zimbardo, L.M. Brown, & J.N. Breckenridge. (Eds). The psychology of terrorism. (ch. 24). Oxford University Press.