Editor’s Introduction

Abstract

The psychosocial aspects of disasters have long been established as an area of research, service delivery, education and training, and policy making and planning. Increasing attention has been given to the psychological impact on both victims and rescue workers in the emergency phase, in preparedness, in search and rescue operations, and in terms of immediate aftereffects. Yet, despite the fact that forty-five years have elapsed since Lindemann [1] elucidated many of the principles of crisis intervention, following the tragedy of the Boston Coconut Grove fire, relatively little has been done to ameliorate the long-term psychosocial consequences of disasters. Even more important is that there is still precious little in the way of planning and preparation for disasters. Disaster response remains largely a media-inspired and -mediated event. Prompted by media reports, people often rush to save lives following an airplane crash or during a famine. They may act generously and heroically; but without training or guidance, their response is not always helpful. For example, when a plane crashed recently in New York, people rushed to help thereby clogging the roads and preventing trained personnel from reaching the scene quickly.