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Family and Community Resilience Relative to the Experience of Mass Trauma: Connectedness to Family and Culture of Origin as the Core Components of Healing

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Abstract

The family is the integral unit of society, and the wellbeing and resilience of families and their communities are inextricably linked. While most families and communities are inherently competent and resilient, when they experience three or more transitions (such as socioeconomic challenges or natural disasters) in a brief period of time they are likely to be stressed to the point of becoming symptomatic if there is imbalance between the stressors and the resources available to help them deal with the issues (Landau, 1982). How such stressors are handled is greatly influenced by the degree of connectedness to family and culture of origin. Our approach, the Linking Human Systems (LINC) Community Resilience Model, increases connectedness at the individual, family, and community level.

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Notes

  1. 1.

     The term “community” includes the natural support system: extended family, friends, neighbors, healthcare providers, clergy, employers, co-workers, etc.

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  1. LINC Foundation, Inc., Boulder, CO, USA

    Judith L. Landau

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  1. Judith L. Landau
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Correspondence to Judith L. Landau .

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  1. , School of Social Work, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, 63105, USA

    Dorothy S. Becvar

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Landau, J.L. (2013). Family and Community Resilience Relative to the Experience of Mass Trauma: Connectedness to Family and Culture of Origin as the Core Components of Healing. In: Becvar, D. (eds) Handbook of Family Resilience. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3917-2_26

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