CHAPTER 11CRISIS THEORY

INTRODUCTION

• ENDURING A CRISIS IS PROBABLY A PROBLEM OF LIVING

• CRISIS: AN EVENT THAT LEADS TO A TEMPORARY STATE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORGANIZATION OR INABILITY TO FUNCTION AS ONE ORDINARILY MIGHT

• CRISIS CAN BE PERSONAL

• A CRISIS CAN BE AN EVENT EXTERNAL TO SELF, SUCH AS NATURAL DISASTER

• REGARDLESS, THE EFFECTS ON THE PERSON ARE VERY SIMILAR

• CRISIS INTERVENTION IS SHORT-TERM, FOCUSED WORK

INTRODUCTION, CONTINUED

• GOAL IS TO RETURN TO THE ORIGINAL STATE OF FUNCTIONING

• A CRISIS CAN BE BOTH A CHALLENGE AND AN OPPORTUNITY

• CRISIS INCREASES THE AMOUNT OF STRESS WITH WHICH WE MUST COPE

• UNRESOLVED CRISIS CAN LEAD TO CHRONIC STRESS

• A PERSON UNDER STRESS (IN CRISIS) MAY NOT MAKE THE BEST OF DECISIONS

HISTORY OF CRISIS THEORY

• GENERALLY CREDITED TO ERICH LINDEMANN IN THE 1940S

• CAPLAN (1964) EMPHASIZED THE SUPPORTIVE ROLE OF THE COMMUNITY IN RESTORING BALANCE TO INDIVIDUALS

• STRICKLER AND BONNEFIL DEFINED PRECIPITATING EVENT AND ROLE OF THE SOCIAL WORKER

• GOLAN AND COLLEAGUES DEVELOPED A SORT OF TRIAGE

• THERE ARE VARIOUS MODELS OF CRISIS INTERVENTION

• RESOURCES CAN BE CONCRETE AND/OR PSYCHODYNAMIC

• CRISIS INTERVENTION CAN OCCUR AT THE MICRO, MEZZO, AND MACRO LEVELS

• PREVENTION IS A PREFERRED METHOD OF INTERVENTION, WHEN POSSIBLE

LEVELS OF CRISIS

• RANKED ACCORDING TO COMPLEXITY, MAGNITUDE

• INCLUDES SUCH THINGS AS LEVEL ONE: MARITAL DISCORD

• LEVEL SEVEN INCLUDES CATASTROPHES

STAGES OF EXPERIENCING AND RESOLVING A CRISIS

• SINCE INDIVIDUAL RESPONSES TO CRISIS ARE UNIQUE, IT IS HELPFUL TO HAVE A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK TO GUIDE ASSESSMENT AND INTERVENTION

• SOCIAL WORKERS SHOULD UNDERSTAND THE STAGES OF CRISIS

• MUCH AS WITH GRIEF, THERE IS AN INITIAL REACTION, WHICH MAY INCLUDE CRYING OR ANGER

• PEOPLE MAY PUT PROTECTIVE BUBBLE AROUND THEMSELVES; MAY HAVE NIGHTMARES

• HEALING IS EVIDENT WHEN PERSON CAN TALK ABOUT EVENT WITHOUT RELIVING IT

• THE FINAL PHASE IS WHEN THE CRISIS IS RESOLVED; THIS MAY TAKE YEARS

STAGES OF EXPERIENCING AND RESOLVING A CRISIS, CONTINUED

• ROBERTS’S MODEL OF ASSESSMENT, CRISIS INTERVENTION AND T AND TREATMENT (ACT) IS A TRIAGE MODEL THAT ALLOWS IMMEDIATE SUPPORTS AND FOR MORE ACUTE STRESS REACTIONS TO BE ADDRESSED

STAGES OF EXPERIENCING AND RESOLVING A CRISIS, CONTINUED

• ROBERTS’ SEVEN-STAGE CRISIS INTERVENTION MODEL

• HAS STAGES RANGING FROM ASSESSMENT TO FOLLOW-UP

• THERE ARE TASKS IN EACH STAGE FOR SOCIAL WORKER TO COMPLETE

• REQUIRES A RANGE OF SKILLS

• BASIC ACTIVE LISTENING SKILLS ARE EXTREMELY IMPORTANT

STAGES OF EXPERIENCING AND RESOLVING A CRISIS, CONTINUED

• CRITICAL INCIDENT STRESS DEBRIEFING AND MANAGEMENT PROTOCOL

• THIS 10-STAGE PROTOCOL WAS DEVELOPED BY LERNER AND SHELTON

• DEBRIEFING OCCURS FOR WORKERS WHO WITNESS UNSPEAKABLE TRAGEDIES

• USED PRIMARILY WITH FIRST RESPONDERS BUT IS USEFUL FOR ANYONE DEALING WITH TRAGEDY

STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS OF CRISIS THEORY

• ADAPTABLE TO A VARIETY OF SITUATIONS

• FLEXIBILITY OF STAGES ACCOMMODATES CULTURAL DIFFERENCES

• THERE IS A SIZEABLE AMOUNT OF RESEARCH VALIDATING CRISIS INTERVENTION

• MODELS ARE VERY STRAIGHTFORWARD AND EASY TO REMEMBER

• INTERVENTION IS TIME-LIMITED

• AT POINT OF INTERVENTION, A NUMBER OF METHODS MAY BE USED, MAKING IT DIFFICULT TO MEASURE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE MODEL VERSUS EFFECTIVENESS OF THE MODALITY

CONCLUSION

• CONCEPTUAL MODEL IS LOGICAL AND PRODUCTIVE

• FOCUSES ON STRENGTHS AND RESILIENCE OF THE CLIENT TO RETURN TO BALANCE

• CRISES OCCUR TO ANYONE

• CAN BE AN OPPORTUNITY TO BECOME STRONGER

• NEED AND RESPONSE ARE BOTH IMMEDIATE