Community Flashcards
Sense of community - McMillan and Chavis (1986)
refers to both physical and geographical location and the quality of relationships
Membership - McMillan and Chavis (1986)
sense of belonging achieved from belonging to a group - feel valued, sense of self worth
Membership establishes boundaries (gated communities, graffitti from gangs)
Clear signs of who belongs and who doesn’t (language and clothing)
Some have initiations to join (eg. frats, military)
Influence - McMillan and Chavis (1986)
whilst being attracted to a community where they have influence, must conform for cohesion
More successful when leaders are aware of members opinions and needs vs domination
Integration and fulfilment of needs - McMillan and Chavis (1986)
Membership must be rewarding - status of group
Must be aware of strengths and limitations
Cooperation increases group productivity (Aronson and collegues, 1978)
Shared values, think and feel similarly, can safely be themselves
Shared emotional connection - McMillan and Chavis (1986)
Being connected to another through a common emotional response to a shared activity/event
Both determined by length of time and quality and importance of interactions
Stress
a state of physiological and psychological arousal produced by interal and external stressors - subjective; perception as challenging, exceeding ability/resources to cope
Kobasa (1979) - positive reponses to negative events
Individual personality differences account for different responses to stress
High stress/high illness vs high stress/low illness;
group 2 saw change as a challenge, felt more in control of their lives, sense of direction both in work and personal life
Resilience
capacity to act positively in the face of difficult/frightening circumstances
Capacity for making the most of every opportunity
Deep-rooted faith in system of meaning
Healthy social support network
Wide comfort zone
Gaela (2010) coping mechanisms
Personality and coping mechanisms influence resiliance, as well as genetics
Henry et al., 2013
high prevalence of psychological distress, greater likelihood of psychological disorder incidence amongsth FIFO workers
Post traumatic growth
a positive change experienced as a result of the struggle with a major life crises/traumatic event Develop a sense of new opportunities Closer relationshop with tohers greater sense of ones strength Greater appreciation of life Deepening of spiritual beliefs/changes
Goldstein (2013) PTSD
Building resilience means facing adversity; affected by family, self and environment
Experience trumps genetics - nature vs nurture
Hurrican Choir (2005)
Sentiens, 2006 - assisted hurricane survivors to feel greater support, greater sense of community, lead to increased perceptions of coping and optimistic thinking
successful in reducing the severity of depression, anxiety, PTSD symptoms (Harvey et al., 2007)
Physical symptoms of trauma
disturbed sleep, nightmares, exhaustion, restlessness, headaches
Cognitive symptoms of trauma
poor concentration, disturbances to attention and memory, flashbacks, intrusive thoughts, disorientation
Emotional symptoms of trauma
fear, avoidance, anxiety, panic, depression, guilt, withdrawal, fearfulness
May regress in behaviour; bedwetting
Causes of PTSD
mental condition that’s triggered when a person witnesses a psychological traumatic event
Genetics - anxiety
Brain structures - emotion and fear areas of the brain are different in those with PTSD
Acute PTSD
symptoms last less than 3 months
Chronic PTSD
symptoms last for at least 3 months
Delayed-onset PTSD
symptoms become apparent at least 6 months after an event
Emotional symptoms of PTSD
Depression, worry, intense guilt, feeling emotionaly numb
Anhedonia - loss of interest in enjoyable activities
Physcial symptoms of trauma
increased rates of neurological, respiratory and cardiovascular symptoms
Effects of PTSD
short term memory loss, long term chronic psychological repercussions
untreated PTSD intensifies the effect of symptoms
Treatment of PTSD
psychotherapy and drug therapy
PTSD Stats
6/10 men and 5/10 women experience a traumatic event - not all will develop PTSD
7/100 will develop PTSD
80% diagnosed are dealing with other mental conditions (OCD, bipolar, anxiety)
Vulnerable groups
Hurrican Katrina - poor, black people, elderly
1998 Esso gas explosion - found the elderly dealth with it better (past experiences, lower expectations of external help) intially thought young people would cope better
Community resilience
Community competence - ability of a community to identify needs and issues and work together to carry out plans and achieve goals (Pooley, 2006)
Factors contributing to stress
Predictability of the event
Controllability of the event
Whether we experience threat and loss
Factors contributing to stress - predictability of the event
Katz and Wykes (1985) - unpredictable events are more stressful and have a longer lasting impact (eg terrorism)
Factors contributing to stress - Controllability of the event
Geer and Maisel (1971) - things out of our control are more stressful than those we can control
Factors contributing to stress - Whether we experience threat or loss
Positive events can be stressful as there can be many unknowns perceived as threatening
Glass et al., 1969
Fewer errors were made when noise was predictable and controllable
