This publication on best practices in crisis prevention and intervention is divided among the concepts of primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention. The introductory chapter examines crisis theory and establishes a foundation for the comprehensive crisis prevention and intervention team. It also attempts to bridge the gap between theory and…

This article examines the treatment services provided the hostages of the Hanafi Muslims in Washington, D.C. in March 1977. The symptoms of the hostages covered a wide spectrum of modalities and differed in severity and persistence. Treatment interventions followed a primary prevention model using a broad-spectrum behavioral group approach.…

Described are positive classroom practices used for behavior management at a child development center, including proximity control, signal interference, touch control, decoding skills, antiseptic bouncing, planned ignoring with positive reinforcement, and supporting cooperative play. Also described is a situational crisis controlled through use of…

Subpopulations of elderly adults at highest risk for suicide are identified, and several specific programs are described, along with a range of measures to prevent suicide in late life. These measures include primary prevention steps related to education, and secondary prevention involving early identification and assessment of the depressed and…

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)

Every day, untrained individuals are called upon to intervene in crises. This paper presents a two-stage approach to crisis intervention, limited here to the immediate alleviation of symptoms and the rapid referral to qualified help. The first stage entails a crisis intervention model that is comprehensive enough to deal effectively with an…

The health knowledge of crisis intervention volunteers was investigated with volunteers from church, school, and private agencies. (GW)

This publication results from on ongoing collaboration between the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Department of Education. Its goals are to determine whether it could have been known that incidents of targeted violence at schools were being planned and whether anything could have been done to prevent them from occurring. Results from the Secret…

Provides guidance to faculty and staff about how to recognize warning signs of depression and suicide in students, and how to communicate with these students. Warning signs include excessive absences, withdrawing from friends, and changes in dress or hygiene. Communication should be done in private, should be nonjudgmental, and should demonstrate…

A study was designed to compare the verbal responses of trained and untrained helpers confronted with the same crisis situation. The subjects were 24 trained graduate helpers, 24 untrained graduate helpers, and 24 untrained undergraduate helpers. Each subject was paired with an actor in one of the following conditions: male actor with male…

This guide documents cost effective methods of providing community-based alternative court intervention services to youth. The service program was designed to assist adolescent status offenders and their families in resolving the underlying problems which bring the youths to the attention of the juvenile system. A Family Crisis Intervention Center…

The study is directed to the entry crisis faced by the elderly in moving to institutions for the aged. The Skaalen Sunset Home for the Aging, a 273-bed nursing home located in Stoughton, Wisconsin, was selected as the research site. Initially, a group interview was conducted with members of the Skaalen residents' council of 13 elderly to discuss…

This paper describes the Home-Based Crisis Intervention (HBCI) program in New York and the outcomes of a study that investigated the effectiveness of the program. The HBCI program provides short-term intensive in-home services to families with children who are at-risk for out-of-home placements. Counselors work with families to prevent psychiatric…

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) estimates that for every high school of 2,000 or more students in the United States, there is at least one successful suicide and thirty to fifty attempts each year. This report offers one state's examination of suicide and presents some effective responses to this problem. Discussed are those…