NCJ Number
145312
Date Published
1992
Length
58 pages
Annotation
This handbook discusses what schools should do when disaster--bus accidents, murders, suicides, tornadoes-- strikes.
Abstract
When disaster strikes, schools need to accomplish the following goals: 1) individual and collective grief resolution; 2) prevention of further traumatic loss (e.g., suicide, retaliation); 3) rebuilding a sense of community in cases of wide-scale natural disasters; and 4) returning to normalcy as soon as reasonably possible. Disaster plans should be in place before, rather than developed during, a crisis. Educators should be careful never to glamorize behaviors that may lead to disastrous ends. Different types of disasters warrant different postvention strategies. During crises, individual teachers' capacities and weaknesses and their relationships to disaster victims also must be taken into account. Specific guidelines are presented for responding to crises, working with the media, communicating during a crisis, and rebuilding the community. When disaster strikes, collaboration is key. Lists of national crisis relief organizations and 18 suggested readings