Full Description
Terrorism is to create a state of terror and fear. Therefore it is important to study the psychological factors and to understand and mitigate our response to terrorism. It is the creation of states of mind, of reducing people's resilience and will to resist, and causing such psychological and social pressure that eventually the political aims of a terrorist group will be fulfilled. This book is not about the prevention of terrorism, but concerned with the consequences of acts of terror, and their impact on populations. It describes what citizens, professionals and governments can do to mitigate the consequences. The focus is less on the "timeless" or "universal" trauma reactions captured by labels such as post traumatic stress disorder, but more on culture and place specific reactions. A comparison is made between the responses visible in Russia (large scale adversity) and the western reaction (a cultural shift towards an age of anxiety and risk aversion). Also "new" terrorism (chemical, biological and nuclear terrorism) is discussed, but in practice most terrorist attacks remain steadfastly conventional.
A last topic is communication, such as; communication between government and its citizens; between terrorists themselves, between terrorists and citizens and between citizens themselves. To talk to each other in the immediate aftermath of terrorist incidents gives much needed support and reassurance. More attention needs to be given to assisting these normalizing processes, and that more needs to be done to safeguard such communications in the immediate aftermath of a terrorist attack.
Contents
Introduction to and Mitigation of Psychological Effects of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD); Emergency, Disaster, and Catastrophe: A Typology with Implications for Terrorism Response; Cultural Precursors and Psychological Consequences of Contemporary Western Responses to Acts of Terror; Towards a Public Mental Health Approach to Terror; Effects of Fear and Anger on Perceived Risks of Terrorism: A National Field Experiment; Threats, Chemicals and Bodily Symptoms: a Psychological Perspective; Immediate Interventions Chr(45) The Experience of the Emergency Mental Health Service of EMERCOM of Russia; Social, Community and Individual Responses to Terrorist Attacks; Approaches to the Study of Suicide Terrorism: A Perspective from Russia; Cross-Confessional Investigation of Religious Visions of the World in the Context of the Fight Against Terrorism; Special Features of Emergency Psychological Assistance during Acts of Terrorism; Perception and Experiencing of "Invisible Stress" (in Relation to Radiation Incidents); Can We Improve the Psychological Tolerance of Populations to Chemical and Biological Terrorism?; Stockholm Effects and Psychological Responses to Captivity in Hostages Held by Suicidal Terrorists; Tracking the Social Dynamics of Responses to Terrorism: Language, Behavior, and the Internet; Treatment of Trauma Survivors with Acute Stress Disorder: Achievements of Systematic Outreach; Short and Long Term Psychological Reactions to Terrorism: The Role of Information and the Authorities; Responding to Chemical, Biological, or Nuclear Terrorism: The Indirect and Long-Term Health; Effects May Present the Greatest Challenge; Societal Responses to New Terrorism.
