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Learning From The Past and Planning For The Future
MENTAL HEALTH MOMENT May 28, 2004 "A family is a unit composed not only of children but of men, women, an occasional animal, and the common cold." - Ogden Nash
Short Subjects
LINKS Rocky Mountain Region
Disaster Mental Health Institute
CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS:
3rd Annual Hawaii
International Conference on Social Sciences
June 16 - 19, 2004
Location: Honolulu Hawaii, USA
Contact: social@hicsocial.orgSociety for the Psychological Study of
Social Issues (SPSSI) Convention
June 25 - 27, 2004
Location: Washington, DC, USA
17th Congress of the International Association
of Cross-Cultural Psychology (IACCP)
August 2 - 6, 2004
Location: Xi'an, CHINA
Contact: Zheng Gang
Institute of Psychology
Chinese Academy of Sciences
100101 Beijing, China
Email: iaccp2004@psych.ac.cnSixth International Conference of
the Learning Sciences (ICLS 2004):
"Embracing Diversity in the Learning Sciences"
June 22 - 26, 2004
Location: Santa Monica, California, USA
International Society of Political Psychology
27th Annual Scientific Meeting
July, 15-18, 2004
Location: Lund, Sweden
62nd Annual Conference of the
International Council of Psychologists
August 3 - 6, 2004
Location: University of Jinan
Jinan, CHINA
Contact: Dr. Natividad Dayan
Scientific Chair
99 General Ave
GSIS Village, Project 8
Quezon City, Metro Manila
01108 PHILIPPINES Telephone: 632-724-5358
Email: bereps@pacific.net.phXXVIII International Congress of Psychology
August 8 - 13, 2004
Location: Beijing, CHINA
Contact: XiaoLan FU, Deputy Director
Committee for International Cooperation
Chinese Psychological Society
Institute of Psychology
Chinese Academy of Sciences
P.O. Box 1603
Beijing 100101, China
Telephome: +86-10-6202-2071
Fax: +86-10-6202-2070
22nd Nordic Congress of Psychology:
"Psychology in a World of Change and Diversity -
Challenges for our Profession"
August 18 -20, 2004
Location: Copenhagen, DENMARK
Contact: Roal Ulrichsen, Chair
NPK2004 Organizing Committee
Danish Psychological Association
Stokholmsgade 27, DK-2100
Copenhagen Ø, Denmark
Email: bh@vanhauen.dk
Iowa, Nebraska Receive Disaster Declarations
President Bush has authorized the release of federal disaster funds to help meet the recovery needs of families and businesses in Nebraska and Iowa victimized by the severe storms, tornadoes and flooding that began late last week. For More Information, Go To: For Nebraska: http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=12334 For Iowa: http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=12341
New Mexico Governor Declares State of Emergency
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson declared a state of emergency in one central county as the state's firefighters battle two wildfires that have charred more than 12,700 acres. The move comes after a blaze grew to 8,000 acres in the Capitan Mountains of Lincoln County. Some two dozen homes - only seven of them occupied - were ordered evacuated Sunday when the fire more than tripled in size. The fire was triggered May 15 by lightning. No structures had burned by early Tuesday, and no injuries were reported, said Beth Wilson, fire information officer. The emergency declaration made Monday allows the New Mexico National Guard to assist as needed with the fire and frees up $750,000 in state assistance. It also allows two National Guard helicopters to be used for firefighting efforts. "I'm very concerned about this fire and the speed with which it blew up," Richardson said. "I want the state to do everything possible to protect the homes and property in its path. And I want firefighters to have every resource possible." The fire is burning in mixed conifer, ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, pinon and juniper trees. Much of the standing timber had already been killed by bark beetles and is tinder-dry, Wilson said. "It's just nasty terrain - very steep, very rocky, very dense," Wilson said. Other fires in the state included one charring 4,750-acres about 50 miles away in the Cibola National Forest and one in the Gallinas Mountains west of Corona that was 60 percent contained Monday night.
For More Wildfire Information, Go To National Interagency Fire Center: http://www.nifc.gov
Guard Deployments Worry State Officials
With so many National Guard troops in Iraq, officials in some states are worried they could be caught short-handed if an emergency flares up at home. More Guard members are deployed now than have been since the Korean War, about a quarter of the 460,000 nationwide. Their more frequent and longer overseas deployments "absolutely" affect states' emergency response, said Chris Reynolds, a battalion fire chief in Tampa, Fla., who also teaches disaster management at American Military University. The effect is critical, Reynolds said, not just because so many National Guard members are gone, but because so many reservists work in public safety and emergency response. "It's the tenure and experience that's missing, and you can't simply fill the hole with someone," Reynolds said. Governors rely on the Guard to serve as a last line of defense during natural disasters and civil emergencies. And as the hurricane and wildfire seasons begin, many states are uneasy and uncertain. "We just have to hope their deployments coincide with the offseason for fires in California," said Jim Wright, deputy director of California's Department of Forestry. Guard leaders have assured states that remaining Guard units can handle their emergency needs. A recently released General Accounting Office report, however, warns that overseas deployments could strain the National Guard's stateside mission. "Equipment and personnel may not be available to the states when they are needed because they have been deployed overseas," the GAO report concludes. "Moreover, the Guard may have difficulty ensuring that each state has access to units with key specialized capabilities - such as engineering or medical assets - needed for homeland security and other domestic missions." Some states expect to feel the squeeze less than others. In Texas, for example, only 12 percent of the Army National Guard is deployed, while 81 percent of the the Idaho Army National Guard has been alerted, mobilized or deployed. "We're in a whole lot better shape than some states that don't have many people to begin with," said Lt. Col. John Stanford of the Texas Army National Guard. Texas and other Gulf states as well as those along the Atlantic Coast are bracing for a rough hurricane season. North Carolina, ravaged by Hurricane Isabel last year, has been assured by Guard leaders that they are prepared for this season despite the deployments, said Ernie Seneca, spokesman for Gov. Mike Easley. The West is facing another summer of dry conditions and nasty wildfires. California's wildfire season has already started, with 29,000 acres burning this month. The Golden State has its own fire crews, with U.S. Forest Service and other federal agencies protecting government land. But Guard members often are called to work at base camps, and can find themselves on the fire lines during large blazes. Wright, the forestry official, lives with the knowledge that the California National Guard's Blackhawk helicopters and C-130 planes that helped douse the Southern California fires could be sent to Iraq at any moment. If necessary, Wright said, California could turn to private contractors or call on other states for firefighting help. When Oregon suffered its worst fire season in a century in 2002, about 1,400 Oregon Army Guard members helped fight the blazes. Oregon National Guard leaders told GAO researchers they wouldn't be able to repeat that performance today, because forces and equipment are deployed overseas. Washington state has already spent $200,000 to train firefighting replacements for National Guard troops now in Iraq. More than half the state's Guard members are deployed overseas. Gov. Gary Locke says he believes the 5,000 remaining Guard members in the state will be able to handle whatever emergencies arise, but their response time could be slower.
Guard leaders acknowledge the need to change the way the Guard operates so some states don't have to bear the brunt of deployments. Lt. Gen. Steven Blum, chief of the Pentagon's National Guard Bureau, has a plan to ensure that every state has at least half of its Guard troops at home and available for homeland security and other state missions. "This model will ensure that no governor is left without sufficient capabilities in the state," Blum told a meeting of the National Governors' Association in February. However, he said, this "rebalancing" effort will take several years. Until then, states will continue to rely on mutual aid agreements that allow them to get help from other states' National Guard units. In Idaho, state officials say they're prepared, but still concerned. "You're never really certain you'll have enough manpower to deal with anything," said Mike Journee, spokesman for Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, "even at full strength."
For More Information, Go To: http://www.firehogs.com
UN humanitarian team taking aid to area of flooded Haiti
A team of United Nations humanitarian agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) today will carry aid to one of the areas of Haiti worst affected by the raging floods that followed days of torrential rain, killing nearly 400 people and injuring almost 1,000 in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. With many roads still impassable, the team was taking a helicopter owned by the US-led Multinational Interim Force (MIF) to Haiti's Fond Verette, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said. Other areas devastated by the sudden flooding Monday night were Mapou, Grand Gosier and Anse à Pitre, in the western part of Haiti, while in the Dominican Republic, Jimani municipality in the southwest, near the Haitian border, was the worst affected. For More Information, Go To: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=10878&Cr=haiti&Cr1=dominican
Latin America, Caribbean meeting set to battle hunger at UN meeting next week
With the Latin America and the Caribbean region overall showing significant progress in fighting hunger, officials from 33 countries are set to attend a United Nations conference in Guatemala in a bid to consolidate gains and remedy shortfalls as part of the global effort to halve hunger levels by 2015. The weeklong UN Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) Regional Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean will decide the main thrust of the work to be carried out by the regional office during 2004 and 2005. Latest figures show that South America improved its food security, reducing the number of undernourished from 41.5 million people to 32.9 million during the 1990's. The situation in the Caribbean region remained stable, with 7.9 million people suffering from malnutrition, but in Central America the number increased from 5 million to 7.5 million. For More Information, Go To: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=10492&Cr=hunger&Cr1=
UN agencies mount response to help thousands in Nigeria displaced by violence
Following a spate of sectarian clashes that have reportedly left 500 people dead and displaced some 50,000 others in central Nigeria, United Nations humanitarian agencies are rushing aid to terrified families that have sought safety in the Bauchi and Nassarawa State areas. After a just-completed joint UN and Nigerian Government assessment revealed urgent needs for food, water, health care, and grants for income-generating activities in and around Bauchi and Nassarawa, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has provided some health kits, medicines, food items and chlorine powder. For More Information, Go To: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=10881&Cr=nigeria&Cr1=
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder after Pregnancy, Labor, and Delivery
Several authors have proposed that a posttraumatic stress (PTS)-like disorder may occur after a distressing pregnancy, labor, or delivery. This hypothesis suggests that a difficult or traumatic birth may act as a significant stressor in a fashion similar to known stressors, such as violence or war, and living through this experience might trigger the symptoms of PTS (i.e., reexperiencing the traumatic event, increased arousal, and avoidance of stimuli associated with the event). For the Article, Go To: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/475434?src=mp
SIGNIFICANCE OF EXTENDED FAMILIES
Until recently, extended family systems have not been the focus of as much empirical research as has the nuclear family. There has been a growing tendency to view the nuclear family as merely a fragment of the extended family system. The implication has been that in order to fully understand, evaluate and treat a nuclear family unit, it is necessary to know something about the extended family system. The focus is on the extended family as a structural phenomenon in its own right. It is important to know if this structure provides a mechanism of social/emotional support. It is also important to know if there are differences in this regard between different cultural groups. As used here, "extended family system" refers to that network of relatives including grandparents, aunts and uncles, married sisters and brothers and their children.
Study of extended families helps demonstrate how people in families help and support each other to enhance each person's sense of well-being. In developing better mental health services, it is vital to have knowledge of how people actually deal with personal, family and collective problems and crises. Ultimately, the consequence of supporting existing extended family networks or of helping to restructure those that have become weak is to make people and communities better able to deal with ongoing problems and change through their own collective efforts. Hopefully, as a result, they will utilize professional expertise in a more selective and effective way.
Many different racial/ethnic groups have an extended family system. However, how that system works and the extent to which it has survived in the United States varies among the different groups. One group which is indigenous to the southwest is the Mexican American or Chicano. They have been viewed historically as an ethnic group which is characterized by a familistic orientation toward life. This includes a tendency to have large, integrated extended families (Ramirez, 1981). Anglo families and, to a lesser degree, Black families are generally seen as having more nuclear-oriented than extended families.
Keefe, Padilla and Carlos (1978) compared the nature of emotional systems among Chicanos and Anglos. They interviewed Mexican Americans and Anglo Americans in Southern California. They found that Anglos who do not have relatives in town go to friends for help more often than Anglos who have relatives nearby. Those with relatives in town were found to rely on relatives more than those without relatives nearby. Mexican Americans, on the other hand, were found to consult with relatives whether or not they had relatives in town.
"Thus, Mexican Americans consistently rely on relatives most often for emotional support regardless of their geographic accessibility, while Anglos turn to friends more often than to relatives when kin are inaccessible and equally as often when kin are present.... Anglos lack a preference for familial support." (Keefe, et al., 1978, p. 39).
Wagner and Schaffer (1980) obtained similar results in a report on two research projects on the social networks and survival strategies of Mexican American, Black and Anglo female family heads in San Jose, California. In the first project, Wagner and Schaffer studied the role of the kinship network. They found that "the proximity of the barrios offered social and economic resources, primarily family members of the Mexican American women who were not available to the same extent for the Anglo and Black single women" (p. 180). They reported that 10% of the Mexican American women had no relatives living in San Jose. This contrasts sharply with a figure of 60% or more among the Anglos and Blacks sampled. Mexican American women averaged eleven relatives living in the city. Anglos and Blacks averaged only about four. Black and Anglo women had been forced to rely on non-kin sources of aid to a greater extent than the Chicanos. This was because they did not have comparably large kinship networks in the community. The authors pointed out that cultural differences may be a factor. This was because the Anglo and Black women didn't choose to live as close to their relatives to the same extent as did the Chicanos.
The second project reported by Wagner and Schaffer (1980) dealt with a group of female family heads whose length of residence in San Jose was less than three years. They reported that "for emotional and social support, Mexican Americans reported turning to relatives, even though they lived in an environment that provided an unusually high proportion of single parent friends" (p. 186). Black mothers, in contrast, were highly dependent on the friendship networks developed within the apartment complex in which they lived.
Mindel (1980) supports the findings of the above studies. His work, based on data collected in 1974, reported on a comparative study of extended familism among urban Mexican Americans, Anglos and Blacks in Kansas City, Missouri. His findings on extended family integration confirm the findings of Keefe et al. (1978). That is, Chicanos exhibit the highest levels of extended familism and Anglos the lowest, with Blacks falling between. Blacks were found to maintain the most functional relationships with their kin. They were followed closely by Chicanos, with Anglos trailing far behind. Mindel analyzed the effects of urban migration and found that:
"...Anglos who have migrated to this urban area have few kin present, indicating movement away from their relatives. In the case of Mexican Americans, migration appears to be toward areas where kin already are present; the migration process is carried on within the context of the kinship network. Blacks, as before, appear to fall somewhere in between, not as separate from their relatives as Anglos, but not as immersed into the kinship network as the Mexican Americans" (p. 29).
There is a fundamental difference in the local kinship structures of Chicanos and Anglos. If they have any at all, Anglos tend to have a very limited local extended family. However, Chicanos tend to have kin groups which are comprised of large numbers of local households which are well integrated and encompass three or more generations. Blacks tend to fall somewhere between the Anglo and Chicano groups.
Chicanos consistently prefer and receive substantial familial support over alternative sources of support. In order to do this, they choose to live near relatives. Anglos, on the other hand, lack a preference for familial support. They tend to have a very limited local extended kin group available.
The implications of the above to U.S. society are speculative at present. Some family therapists (Kerr, 1974; Bowen, 1978) believe that nuclear families who have attempted to isolate themselves from the family of origin by means of physical distance are like pressure cookers with no outlet valves.
"It is as if the emotional energy that was once invested in the extended family now all goes into the nuclear family with a corresponding increase in conflict, symptoms, or vulnerability to stress in the nuclear family unit" (Kerr, 1974, p. 52).
Bowen (1978) views the geographical distribution of extended kin as a potentially important factor in the effectiveness of a family support system in serving its emotional support function. Ramirez (1981) suggests that there is a relationship between having an integrated extended family available and the mental health of individual members. More specifically, Ramirez believes that the larger and geographically closer is the extended family, the better is a person's mental health (as measured by a three-item symptom score).
The family (extended or nuclear) may be an endangered species in the future in the United States. Attitudes toward family life are undergoing significant changes. The 1980 White House Conference on Families reported a U.S. Department of Labor survey that revealed that only 10% of all American families fit the traditional picture of a bread-earning father, a home-making mother and two children.
In 1900, only five million American women were employed. Today, more than 38 million women are employed and 14% of them, almost 5.5 million, have children under the age of 6. It has been estimated that, in less than 10 years, two-thirds of all married women under 55 will be employed and the traditional image of a mother as a woman who stays home to look after her children will apply to only one-quarter of the estimated 44.4 million married mothers (White House Conference on Families, 1980). The impact of this alone, not to mention other societal changes, will have a tremendous effect on the extended family. If, indeed, the mental health of the individual is increased by the presence of an extended familial support system, then what effect will changes in society in general and the work force in particular have on this system? What are the characteristics of rural vs urban-oriented families and what is the prognosis for their future? What stressors in the environment threaten the security of the extended family and how can they be alleviated? How do families cope with the conflicting demands of work and family responsibilities? What are some of the difficulties encountered by working mothers? Does the extended family have a future? How do different racial/ethnic groups cope with our changing society?
These and other questions need empirical answers and practical suggestions. More research is needed in these areas, especially regarding the differences and changes in stressors affecting rural and urban families and different racial/ethnic groups who are just beginning to experience what the United States is to them.
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REFERENCES Bowen, M. Family therapy in clinical practice. New York: Jason Aronson, 1978.
Gallup Survey Data: White House Conference on Families, 1980. American Research Corporation, Box 7849, New Port Beach, California 92660.
Keefe, E., Padilla, M. and Carlos, L. Emotional support systems in two cultures: A comparison of Mexican Americans and Anglo Americans. Los Angeles: Spanish Speaking Mental Health Research Center, UCLA, Occasional Paper No. 7, 1978.
Kerr, E. The importance of the extended family. In F.D. Andres and J.P. Lorio (Eds.) Georgetown Family Symposia, Volume I (1971-1972): A collection of selected papers. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Medical Center, Department of Psychiatry, Family Section, 1974.
Mindel, H. Extended familism among urban Mexican Americans, Anglos and Blacks. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 1980, 2, (1), 21-34.
Ramirez, O. Chicano, Anglo and Black extended families. Texas Psychologist, 1981, 33 (2), 5-8.
Ramirez, O. Extended family phenomena and mental health among urban Mexican Americans. Reston, Virginia: Latino Institute, Monograph No. 3, 1981.
Wagner, R.M. and Schaffer, D.M. Social networks and survival strategies: An exploratory study of Mexican American, Black and Anglo female family heads in San Jose, California. In M.B. Melville (Ed.) Twice a minority: Mexican American Women. St. Louis: C.V. Mosby, 1980.
Work and Families: The White House Conference on Families: A report to Corporate leaders on the White House Conference on Families. Prepared by the J.C. Penney Company, Inc. Public Affairs Department for the White House Conference on Families, 1980.
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To search for books on disasters and disaster mental
health topics, leaders, leadership, orgainizations,
crisis intervention, leaders and crises, and related
topics and purchase them online, go to the following url:
https://www.angelfire.com/biz/odochartaigh/searchbooks.html
RECOMMENDED READING
Mass Trauma and Violence : Helping Families and Children Cope
by Nancy Boyd Webb
Editorial Review
"This comprehensive volume should be on the desk of any clinician who works with traumatized children and families, whether in clinical, community, educational, or medical settings. It is an ideal text for both seasoned professionals and graduate students in all of the helping professions. Detailed case examples and descriptions of clinical and community interventions provide 'everything you need to know' about helping clients heal from large-scale traumatic incidents."--Cathy A. Malchiodi, ATR, CPAT, LPCC, National Institute for Trauma and Loss in Children
"Much still remains to be learned about how mass trauma affects children and families and how its harmful impact can be reduced. In the absence of decisive evidence, this book fills the gap by outlining what is currently known and making valuable recommendations for practice. Given previous terrorist acts, current threats, and the ongoing separation of children from parents who serve in the military, this book addresses a very timely issue and does so with clarity and wisdom."--Arieh Y. Shalev, MD, Department of Psychiatry, Hadassah University Hospital, Israel
Additional Readings at:
Also try looking here for September 11, 2001: A Simple Account for Children.
Videos on Terrorism
Other videos about terrorism**********************************************************************
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Contact your local Mental Health Center or
check the yellow pages for counselors, psychologists,
therapists, and other Mental health Professionals in
your area for further information.
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Copyrighted and published by the Rocky Mountain Region Disaster Mental Health Institute. No part of this document may be reproduced without written consent.The Rocky Mountain Region Disaster Mental Health Newsletter is published online weekly by:
Rocky Mountain Region
Disaster Mental Health Institute, Inc.
Box 786
Laramie, WY 82073-0786
Newsletter Online: https://www.angelfire.com/biz3/news
Institute Home Page: https://www.angelfire.com/biz/odoc/rocky.html
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