In this column, Crisis Management in the Schools Interest Group members summarize recent crisis management publications. The first article summarized was a meta-analysis of the risk factors associated with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) among adults. The second study looked at the presence of life stressors among students who were expelled…

Much troubled behavior results as youth "import" problems that originate in the family or community, thus displacing conflicts on neutral parties. Such outside stressors can overwhelm a youth and contaminate relationships with well-meaning persons. LSCI is designed to deal with such situations through a "red-flag intervention." This article shows…

This paper focuses on the stress and struggles faced by survivors, following physical and/or emotional loss. It explains how counselors must be prepared to assist when grief strikes the nation, the classroom, or the individual. Each incident carries its own uniqueness and must be dealt with in light of the victim's personal need and their belief…

This fact sheet, newly revised and updated since the attacks of September 11th, aims to share what is known about the impact of violence and disasters on children and to suggest steps to minimize long-term emotional harm. Trauma is defined to include emotional as well as physical experiences and injuries. It is noted that even secondhand exposure…

Crisis events may be viewed as expected, sudden, or catastrophic. Survivors have common needs: recognition of loss, soothing of fear, a sense of what happened, expression of feelings, assistance with adjustment, shared closure rituals, and ways to remember. Schools' crisis-response plans should include intervention and postintervention activities…

As violence and suicide increase in our society, educators are helping students, staff members, and families cope with the sudden loss of a peer or child. Pragmatic intervention strategies can help survivors deal with their reactions to sudden death and posttraumatic stress disorders. Counseling techniques are also outlined. (MLH)

Suicide is a personal act with a high degree of interpersonal effects and outcomes. The student contemplating or attempting suicide has reached a turning point in his life and is searching for a way out. Suicide rates among college-age students have tripled over the past 25 years. While national attention has been drawn to the problem of teenage…

Participants from five groups completed a questionnaire that required them to assess their use of 11 coping mechanisms. Participants differed from one another, depending on group affiliation, on five strategies. The strategy judged most important was "maintaining contact with other helpers." Concludes that training programs should…

Participants (n=161) viewed a videotaped "disaster" during which they "placed" themselves on the scene as helpers. Results indicate that two groups, those who had received previous training in coping skills versus those who had not, differed significantly in the use of skills and level of psychological comfort. (Author)

This is the first in a series of booklets written for developmentally disabled people who have been sexually assaulted. This initial booklet is designed for people who understand best with few words and who will read the booklet with a care-provider. Using large print, simple words, and numerous illustrations, the guide illustrates and names…

This is the third in a series of booklets written to assist developmentally disabled people who have been sexually assaulted. This booklet is designed for family members, advocates, and care-providers, to help them in assisting someone through a sexual assault crisis or in teaching clients about prevention and safety measures. The booklet defines…

Twenty-one families participated as members of experimental or control groups in a study which investigated the effects of family-oriented intervention on the stress level of families with young handicapped children (average age 2 years) whose impairments were primarily developmental delay or cerebral palsy. Parents completed the Parenting Stress…

Now in a completely revised and updated third edition, this widely adopted casebook and text presents effective, creative approaches to helping children who have experienced such stressful situations as parental death or divorce, abuse and neglect, violence in the school or community, and natural disasters. While the book retains the focus on…

This book argues that many U.S. children are at risk because of poverty, drug and alcohol abuse, poor health, illiteracy, racial prejudice, and the eruption of unprecedented levels of violence both in inner cities and across the country. It provides a comprehensive overview of the crises young children and adolescents face and the decisions that…