Each year, disasters such as house fires, car accidents, tsunamis, earthquakes, and hurricanes impact hundreds of thousands of children. Child victims can suffer disproportionately and the physical and psychological damage sustained can far outweigh the same effects in adults, often requiring years of therapy. Sadly, emergency planners to date have

Available Open Access under CC-BY-NC licence. Disasters are an increasingly common and complex combination of environmental, social and cultural factors. Yet existing response frameworks and emergency plans tend to homogenise affected populations as ‘victims’, overlooking the distinctive experience, capacities and skills of children and young people. Drawing on participatory research with more than 550 children internationally, this book argues for a radical transformation in children’s roles and voices in disasters. It shows practitioners, policy-makers and researchers how more child-centred disaster management, that recognises children’s capacity to enhance disaster resilience, actually benefits at-risk communities as a whole.

As the world dies, a woman must choose between her own survival and that of humankind. Raised in a privileged community of wealthy survivalists on an idyllic, self-sustaining Oregon ranch, Marlo has always been insulated. The outside world, which the ranchers call "the Disaster," is a casualty of ravaging climate change, a troubled landscape on the brink of catastrophe. For as long as Marlo can remember, the unknown that lies beyond the borders of her utopia has been a curious obsession. But just as she plans her escape into the chaos of the real world, a charismatic new resident gives her a compelling reason to stay. And, soon enough, a reason to doubt--and to fear--his intentions. Now, feeling more and more trapped in a paradise that's become a prison, Marlo has a choice: stay in the only home she's ever known--or break away, taking its secrets of survival with her. Set in a chillingly possible, very near future, Disaster's Children is a provocative debut novel about holding on to what we know and letting go of it for the unknown and the unknowable.

In response to the growing concern for the psychological impact of disasters on children, this book integrates a diverse body of literature-including theory, case studies and other research, and assessment and intervention techniques-contributed by many of the fields most experienced professionals. Child and school psychologists, psychiatrists, nurses, mental health administrators, and pediatricians will all appreciate the work's unique focus on the reaction of children to extreme stress.

This text offers psychotherapists and others involved in emergency response contemporary information on the immediate and lasting effects of trauma on children and adolescents. This volume demonstrates children and adolescents do have significant reactions that can interfere with their current and future psychological adjustment. Who is most at risk, and what can be done? This text reviews the research and intervention literature on a broad range of natural and man-made disasters, from floods and house-fires to acts of terrorism and war. Chapter authors document children's reactions, identifying factors that may predict or, alternatively, buffer against severe trauma responses. Descriptions of preparatory and post-disaster coping materials and interventions developed for use with children are included. In addition to setting the research agenda and paving the way for theory and model building in this evolving field, this volume has a strong practical emphasis, offering strategies for when and how to intervene, based on clinical observations and empirical evidence.

This book provides a broad international perspective on the psychological trauma faced by children and adolescents exposed to major disasters, and on the local public health response to their needs. An outstanding quality of the book is that it draws upon the experience of local researchers, clinicians, and public mental health practitioners who dedicated themselves to these children in the wake of overwhelming events. The chapters address exemplary responses to a wide variety of trauma types, including severe weather, war, industrial catastrophes, earthquakes, and terrorism. Because disasters do not recognize geographic, economic, or political boundaries, the chapters have been selected to reflect the diverse global community’s attempt to respond to vulnerable children in the most challenging times. The book, thus, examines a diverse range of healthcare systems, cultural settings, mental health infrastructure, government policies, and the economic factors that have played an important role in responses to traumatic events. The ultimate goal of this book is to stimulate future international collaborations and interventions that will promote children’s mental health in the face of disaster.

Provides facts about earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and mud slides and discusses how to deal with and survive a natural disaster.