Social Resilience and Natural Disasters

Abstract

This chapter provides a conceptualization of crisis, social resilience and shared experience, for individuals as well as communities, during natural disaster. Social resilience, including social support, is vital in dealing with crisis and trauma. The building of social resilience and solidarity with both individuals and communities is based on shared social capital, trust and the social cohesion which are so critical for working effectively in crisis. Applying social work values and ethics, as well as community organizational principles and strategies of participation in joint assessment and decision making, empowers both clients and workers experiencing shared trauma and enables a collaborative healing process. Drawing on the shared experiences of the worker and client to build social inclusion and social resilience responsibly is a powerful way to deal with trauma. Thus, ‘meeting in the middle’ highlights shared ownership of the process of recovery, and promotes effectively coping with trauma brought about by natural disaster. Keywords: Shared Trauma, Social Resilience, Crisis Response, Natural Disasters, Community Work, Social Work Practice