Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on `Stress and Communities', Château de Bonas, France, June 14--18, 1994

Based on the day-to-day record of an American sociologist imprisoned for three years in a Japanese concentration camp in the seaport town of Bacolod, Negros Island, Philippines, this book deals with the relations between people in a situation of stress. An interracial group made up of many nationalities, varied economic statuses, religions, and professions gave Mrs. Vaughan ample material for her study. What is the basis of leadership in a crisis situation? What are the critical tensions? The patterns of survival and adjustment? What effect does previous cultural background have on reaction to calamity? These questions, among many others significant for social psychologists, psychiatrists, and all those concerned with human relationships, find answers here. Originally published in 1949. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

African Society Today: Peasant farmers and the state in Africa: Disaster in rural sub-Saharan Africa has become a regular, almost annual event in recent years. In 1985 it was estimated that 10 million Africans left their homes and fields because they were unable to support themselves and that an additional 20 million were reported to be at risk of debilitating hunger.

As the population of older Americans grows, it is becoming more racially and ethnically diverse. Differences in health by racial and ethnic status could be increasingly consequential for health policy and programs. Such differences are not simply a matter of education or ability to pay for health care. For instance, Asian Americans and Hispanics appear to be in better health, on a number of indicators, than White Americans, despite, on average, lower socioeconomic status. The reasons are complex, including possible roles for such factors as selective migration, risk behaviors, exposure to various stressors, patient attitudes, and geographic variation in health care. This volume, produced by a multidisciplinary panel, considers such possible explanations for racial and ethnic health differentials within an integrated framework. It provides a concise summary of available research and lays out a research agenda to address the many uncertainties in current knowledge. It recommends, for instance, looking at health differentials across the life course and deciphering the links between factors presumably producing differentials and biopsychosocial mechanisms that lead to impaired health.

Documenting the daily efforts of African Americans to protect their community against highly oppressive conditions, this ground-breaking volume chronicles the unique experiences of black women that place them at higher risk for morbidity and mortality - especially during pregnancy. Stress and Resilience: The Social Context of Reproduction in Central Harlem examines the processes through which economic circumstances, environmental issues, and social conditions create situations that expose African American women to stress and chronic strain. Detailing the individual and community assets and strategies used to address these conditions, this volume provides a model methodology for translating research into public health and social action. Based on interactive community partnered research, Stress and Resilience: The Social Context of Reproduction in Central Harlem Facilitates more exact hypotheses about the relationship between risk factors, protective factors and reproductive health; Furnishes a better understanding of chronic disease patterns and suggests more effective interventions to reduce rates of infant mortality; Incorporates the voices of the community and of women themselves through their own words and actions; Sheds light on epidemiologic research and intervention protocols; Examines the social context in which reproductive behaviors are practiced; Provides a holistic framework in which to understand infant mortality; And more. Filling a large gap in the literature on the social context of reproduction this important monograph offers indispensable information for public health researchers, program planners, anthropologists, sociologists, urban planners, medical providers, policy makers, and private funders.

We have all experienced work conditions that tax our ability to cope. Many of us have experienced these demands for long periods of time and have developed psychological, and even physical, problems. Most employees can also recall times when they have dealt with the stress they were under at work, even coming out stronger. What helps employees to perform well and stay healthy under high levels of stress? What are the factors that distinguish those employees? What are the best ways to recover from a stressful day at work? How can employees proactively address stressors they encounter at work, and how can they move from coping to thriving in the workplace? Thriving Under Stress illuminates the ways stressful working conditions can produce positive outcomes when employees approach demands in the right way, focus on the meaning and significance of their work, and recover appropriately from stressful working conditions, both during the day and when at home. Britt and Jex encourage employees to view themselves as active constructors of their work environment-capable of proactively addressing the burdens they encounter, instead of becoming passive recipients of work stressors.

This original work focuses on how stress evolves and is resolved in the interplay between persons and their social connectedness within family, tribe, and culture. Stress, Culture, and Community maintains that the primary motivation of human beings is to build, protect, and foster their resource reservoirs in order to protect the self and its social attachments. Stevan E. Hobfoll searches for the causes of psychological distress and potential methods of successful stress resistance by probing the ties that bind people in families, communities, and cultures. By focusing on the `process" rather than the `outcomes' of stress, he reshapes the stress dialogue.