1. Anger Following the Victorian Black Saturday Bushfires: Implications for Postdisaster Service Provision.
- Author
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Kellett, Connie, Gibbs, Lisa, and Harms, Louise
- Subjects
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MASS casualties , *PSYCHOLOGICAL resilience , *WILDFIRES , *GREENHOUSE effect , *FOCUS groups , *EXECUTIVES , *SOCIAL workers , *QUALITATIVE research , *ANGER , *INTERVIEWING , *STATISTICAL sampling , *SEX distribution , *HOSPITAL emergency services , *SOCIAL worker attitudes , *JUDGMENT sampling , *EMOTIONS , *COMMUNITIES , *DECISION making , *SOCIAL case work , *CONVALESCENCE , *DISASTERS , *NATURAL disasters , *EMERGENCY management - Abstract
Anger is a well-recognised but little understood emotion in postdisaster contexts. For service providers working in recovery environments, it is critical to understand anger to ensure effective supports and interventions are mobilised. This article describes findings from a study conducted four years after the 2009 Victorian Black Saturday bushfires. Thirty-eight community and service-provider participants were interviewed as individuals, dyads, or within focus groups about their own and others' experiences of anger. Postdisaster anger was described as more immediate, intense, and frequent than predisaster, and seen by participants as destructive, productive, and justified. Experiences and understandings differed by gender, and related to aggression, violence, and family violence. Service provision was a key trigger for anger, with leadership styles, community expectations, and community members' level of control over decision making being factors that shaped experience. Based on these findings, five proposed principles for anger-sensitive practice in disaster contexts, along with wider considerations for understanding anger, are provided. IMPLICATIONS This article provides unique understandings of the experience of anger following disaster, which are useful for social workers, community members and leaders, and other service providers. Research findings about anger experiences and outcomes postdisaster are synthesised into proposed principles for practice with disaster-impacted communities (that can potentially build capability prior to disasters). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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