The family and community context of individual reactions to disaster

Most widespread images of disaster behavior are based on a concept of the weakness of the average individual and the fragility of typical social organization in being able to cope with crise. Research, however, has revealed the resilience of individuals and social structures under conditions of great adversity.Four different behavioral contexts have been examened hare: reactions to warming, reactions to threat, reactions to impact, and coping with loss. In all of these situations, the family and the community context provided mechanisms which tended to reduce, deflect, and soften the potential consequences of a disaster event (AU)