Taking Charge in Troubled Times E-Book

• Herausgeber: Modern History Press
• Kategorie: Bildung
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2007

Seitenzahl: 262

Beschreibung

Recent years have seen an extraordinary number of major disasters, critical incidents and other events that have had major impacts on our world. The 2004 tsunami, hurricanes Rita and Katrina, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan affect millions of lives daily. Potential events such as Avian Flu pandemic, global warming and the increasing threats of spreading unrest in the Middle East are concerns that weigh heavily on us all.
November 8-11, 2006, the Rocky Mountain Region Disaster Mental Health Institute held their Annual four-day Disaster Mental Health Conference. The theme of the conference was "TAKING CHARGE IN TROUBLED TIMES: Response, Resilience, Recovery and Follow-up." This edition contains the major papers presented at the conference and summaries of additional presentations. They address some of the major crisis events confronting our societies in recent years, namely, large disasters such as hurricanes Katrina and Rita; case studies such as Abu Ghraib, and traumatic events such as a night club suicide bombing, the role of cultural sensitivity and ethics in disaster settings, resilience, and the importance of planning, education and taking care of our first responders and mental health professionals. An additional concern with information includes information about preparation of communities and families for deployment and return of military personnel. The importance of planning for how mental health personnel can respond in the event of an Avian Flu Pandemic is also discussed. Presenters are drawn from researchers and responders from Wyoming, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
Contributors include John Durkin, Alan L. Hensley, Thom Curtis, Patricia Justice, Richard J. Conroy, Debra Russell, Joshua Faudem, Kenneth Glass, and Tasha Graves.
The Rocky Mountain Region Disaster Mental Health Institute is a 501(c)3 Non-profit Organization

Leseprobe

Proceedings of the 5th Rocky Mountain Region Disaster Mental Health Conference

Edited by George W. Doherty, MS, LPC

Copyright © 2007 Rocky Mountain Region Disaster Mental Health Institute.

All Rights Reserved.

Individual contributors retain copyrights to each paper contained herein and have granted reprint permission for this set of Proceedings.

For information on reprints, please contact the Rocky Mountain Region Disaster Mental Health Institute (below).

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rocky Mountain Region Disaster Mental Health Conference (5th : 2006 : Casper, Wyo.)

Proceedings of the 5th Rocky Mountain Region Disaster Mental Health Conference / edited by George W. Doherty.

p. ; cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN-13: 978-1-932690-37-8 (trade paper : alk. paper)

ISBN-10: 1-932690-37-9 (trade paper : alk. paper)

1. Disasters--Psychological aspects--Congresses. 2. Psychiatric emergencies--Congresses. 3. Crisis intervention (Mental health services)--Congresses. I. Doherty, George W. (George William) II. Title.

[DNLM: 1. Stress Disorders, Traumatic--therapy--Congresses. 2. Crisis Intervention--Congresses. 3. Disaster Planning--Congresses. 4. Emergency Services, Psychiatric--Congresses. WM 172 R684 2007]

RC451.4.D57R63 2006

363.34’8--dc22

2007006292

ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION DISASTER MENTAL HEALTH INSTITUTE

PO BOX 786

LARAMIE, WY 82073-0786

http://www.rmrinstitute.org/rocky.html

email: [email protected]

Phone: [phone]

The Rocky Mountain Region Disaster Mental Health Institute is a 501(c)3 Non-profit Organization.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgements

Rocky Mountain Region DMH Institute Board

Introduction

Taking Charge in Troubled Times: Response, Resilience, Recovery and Follow-up by George W. Doherty, MS, LPC

Chapter 1 -- Case Studies in Disaster and Large Scale Trauma

Why Good People Go Bad: A Case Study of the Abu Ghraib Prison Abuse Courts-Martial by Alan L. Hensley

Life After a Terrorist Attack: Resiliency of Israeli Suicide Bombing Victims by Curtis and Faudem

Chapter 2 -- Cultural Issues and Trauma

Role of Culture and Cultural Sensitivity in Disaster Response: A Roundtable Discussion by Alan L. Hensley

Culture & Ethics in the Eye of the Storm: Engaging Katrina Survivors in Pennsylvania by K. Glass and T. Graves

Chapter 3 -- On Trauma and Recovery

Resolving Distress: The Medical Myth by John Durkin

The Dissociation of Abigail: A Psychodynamic and Behavioral Assessment by Alan L. Hensley

Chapter 4 -- Planning Disaster Response

Pandemics and Biological/Chemical Terrorism Attacks: A New Role for Disaster Mental Health by Thom Curtis, PhD

Chapter 5 -- Compassion Fatigue

Care for the Caretaker by Patricia Justice

Chapter 6 -- Trauma Education

ICISF Online Learning Project by Richard J. Conroy, MS

Chapter 7 -- Demobilization Support

Preparing Communities for Deployment and Return of Military Members and Their Families, by Debra Russell

A Soldier’s Trauma -- Everyone’s Trauma, by Nancy L. Day, CTS

Addendum

Summaries of Additional Presentations (not appearing in this volume)

Foreword

Since 1998, the Rocky Mountain Region Disaster Mental Health Institute has pursued the mission of promoting the development and application of practice, research and training in disaster mental health, critical incident stress management, traumatology and other emergency response interventions and the promotion of community awareness, resilience and recovery. This includes hazards vulnerability, mitigation research, strategic planning, and training for first responders, mental health professionals, chaplains and related personnel in all settings. The Institute’s motto is: “Learning from the past and planning for the future.”

One of the Institute’s purposes includes providing a forum for presentation of research results, practice activities, field experiences and other opportunities for networking. The Fifth Annual Rocky Mountain Region Disaster Mental Health Conference was an opportunity for first responders and mental health professionals to present and discuss information about their experiences in the field and to share this with peers. An additional objective for this conference was to give presenters and delegates the opportunity to briefly pull away from their response modes and to decompress in a pleasant environment with peers who share their understanding of how these stressful events and responses affect not just victims, but also responders and mental health professionals.

The theme of the conference was “TAKING CHARGE IN TROUBLED TIMES: Response, Resilience, Recovery and Follow-up.” Presenters addressed various aspects of this topic and further discussed these with delegates in a number of daily roundtable discussions. After hours, delegates were able to take part in a number of planned and ad-hoc activities.

Again, the conference had two goals: one to learn from research, field experiences and networking; and second, to provide a safe, fun, relaxing time to enjoy away from regular responder activities. In both of these, the conference was a success. This book presents major papers and information about the presentations and activities. It is hoped that this volume will allow further dissemination of these presentations to others in the first responder and disaster mental health communities and provide a useful addition to these very important fields. This book is dedicated to all those first responders (fire, law enforcement, EMTs, disaster mental health professionals, chaplains and others) who are always there for victims of disasters and critical incidents and who help each other in dealing with the stresses of such response. Without these dedicated people, we all would be less resilient

—George W. Doherty, PresidentRocky Mountain RegionDisaster Mental Health Institute

Acknowledgements

In preparing for and carrying out a conference such as this, it takes the work and cooperation of many individuals. Thanks are due to Carol Chapin, Director of Convention Sales for the Casper Area Convention and Visitors Bureau and her very able staff. All delegates were treated to a reception buffet dinner at the Casper Events Center, sponsored by the Visitors Bureau. Additional thanks are extended to: the Mayor of Casper, The Honorable Renee R. Burgess for welcoming the conference delegates; to Bruce Berst, Company I, who presented the story of the Platte Bridge Station and Red Butte Battle (both including information about Caspar Collins for whom the city of Casper is named); Carol Chapin who presented the story of the City of Casper—its transformation from cattle town to the Oil Capital of the Rockies; the volunteer workers from the Visitors Bureau who assisted at the reception and those who helped work registration at the conference; Renee Penton-Jones, General Manager and LeAnn Miller, Director of Catering and their staffs at the Casper Holiday Inn on the River for their professional assistance in the logistics of making the onsite activities of the conference a success.

Others that contributed to the success of the conference included David Smith, Gary Hulit, Randy Hanson, Stewart Anderson, Theresa Simpson, Merit Thomas and others who helped spread the word about the conference among their colleagues. Among those to whom we are further indebted are the Casper Petroleum Club and their able staff for opening their dining facility for our Conference Delegate Dinner on the Friday evening of the conference. Finally, thanks to Jude Carino, Center Director, National Historic Trails Interpretive Center for making available discounted admissions passes to the Center for conference attendees. Delegates who took advantage of this experienced the unique opportunity of learning about the history of the early pioneers traveling west and the hardships they encountered from interpretive talks, exhibits and interactive activities.

About the Cover

A special thank-you to Kurt Box of the Casper Area Convention & Visitors Bureau for permission to use this beautiful photo of the Casper, Wyoming skyline at twilight.

Rocky Mountain Region Disaster Mental Health Institute

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Holly Dorst, PsyD Private Practice Laramie, WY

Anne Bunn, PhD University of Wyoming Counseling Center Laramie, WY

Sgt David Smith Laramie Police Department Laramie, WY Board Chair

ADVISORY BOARD

Stewart Anderson

Marti Mace

Gary Hulit

Emergency Manager

Cheyenne, WY

Counselor

Casper, WY

Laramie, WY

Sarah Gundle, PsyD

Pamela Smith

Carol Nordlander

St Luke’s-Roosevelt Hosp. Ctr.

Ivinson Memorial Hospital

Wheat Ridge, CO

Roosevelt Division

Laramie, WY

New York, NY

Kevin Furlong, PhD

Nancy Day

Sheryl Brickner

Department of Geosciences

E-Productivity-Services.net

Lost and Found Inc

Pennsylvania State University

Kansas City, MO

Wheat Ridge, CO

University Park, PA

Jocelyn Brown

Penny Mann

Delores Cuch

Arapahoe, WY

Arapahoe, WY

Arapahoe, WY

Allison Sage

Thom Curtis

Debbie Russell

Ethete, WY

University of Hawaii at Hilo

Cheyenne, WY

Hilo, HI

Linda R. McCord

Gerald Albrent

Faye Copenhaver

Aroostook Band of Micmac Indians

Pikes Peak Mental Health Ctr

Littleton, CO

Presque Isle, ME

Colorado Springs, CO

Joey Wells

Mary J. Woods

Ann Cope

Westminster, CO

St. Joseph’s Children’s Home

Fort Collins, CO

Torrington, WY

Nancy J. Greene

Penelope McAlmond-Ross

Samuel Pell

St. Joseph’s Children’s Home

Dixon, CA

Cheyenne, WY

Torrington, WY

Rachayeeda Pradhan

Richard J. McCullough

Anita Maher

India

Cheyenne, WY

Tigard, OR

And University of Colorado

Rommel C. Reedy

Tracy, Young

Sgt David Smith

Cheyenne, WY

Peak Wellness Center

Laramie, WY

John Durkin

Daniel R. Bogart, MA,LPC

Rev Bob Rudichar

Ely, Cambridgeshire

Evanston, WY

Campbell County

United Kingdom

Memorial Hospital

Gillette, WY

Patricia Justice

Shawna Kautzman

Docklands Counseling &

Laramie, WY

Psychotherapy Services

London, England

Taking Charge In Troubled Times:

Response, Resilience, Recovery and Follow-up

George W. Doherty, MS, LPC

President, Rocky Mountain Region Disaster Mental Health Institute

Abstract

Recent years have seen an extraordinary number of major disasters, critical incidents and other events that have had major impacts on our world. The 2004 tsunami, hurricanes Rita and Katrina, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan affect millions of lives daily. Potential events such as Avian Flu pandemic, global warming and the increasing threats of spreading unrest in the Middle East are concerns that weigh heavily on all. Resilience, recovery from crises and how to prepare communities, learn from past experience, and strategically plan for future events are all activities that involve the education, training and time of first responders and mental health professionals. This paper briefly presents an overview of resilience assessment and planning and then an overview of the major papers presented at the Fifth Annual Rocky Mountain Region Disaster Mental Health Conference held in Casper, Wyoming November 8-11, 2007.

In recent years, the world has been exposed to many events and incidents that were and continue to be traumatic in their effects on all involved whether primary responders and/or as secondary ones or even vicariously. Victims of these events continue to be affected as well. The year 2005 began with a tsunami in south Asia. It was a year with a record number of Atlantic hurricanes—at least three of which wreaked havoc on major population centers. The war in the Middle East continued. Returning veterans and their families are facing new challenges upon re-entry into their home communities. The movement of “Bird Flu” around the world and its potential for a possible pandemic has prompted health officials to seek preparation with communities for how to deal with such an event should the virus mutate so that human-to-human transmission occurs. How to involve mental health professionals is important. The topic of global warming still presents major concerns. Cultural sensitivity is an additional factor of continuing concern in planning how best to respond to disasters and critical incidents locally, nationally and internationally.

Appropriate ethical responses by disaster mental health professionals is an emerging topic of concern. What are the traumatic effects of hurricanes Rita and Katrina one year later—among responders, victims and especially among those who remain in other parts of the country? How does resilience affect recovery from disasters and critical incidents. What are the continuing effects on children? How do local communities identify and prepare for hazards in their communities? What role does mental health prepare for and play with Red Cross, CISM, first responders, victims, Homeland Security, Military, and emergency management? These questions and others were ones addressed and discussed at the Fifth Annual Rocky Mountain Region Disaster Mental Health Conference held in Casper, Wyoming November 8-11, 2006.

Resilience: Assessment and Planning

There are a number of factors which support individuals, families and communities which help to minimize the consequences of disasters in terms of supporting preparedness activities as well as supporting sustaining recovery activities. Some of them are the reverse of vulnerability such as access and adequate resources. Identifying and assessing those positive factors possessed or shared by individuals, families, groups, communities and agencies which support resilience gives emergency planners and managers the opportunity to further develop resilience to increase the “disaster resistance” of the population.

Communities and agencies may be vulnerable to loss and damage from emergencies or disasters. A similar process of assessing elements of vulnerability and resilience and evaluating capability can be undertaken for communities and agencies as is undertaken for assessing the vulnerability and resilience of individuals, families, households, and groups. It is important to emphasize in the vulnerability assessment that vulnerabilities and needs may change over time. Needs may be significantly less in terms of numbers of people and the urgency of the need after a few hours than after days or weeks. For example, the loss of a water supply may be trivial for an hour or two, but for much longer than that it has the potential to affect the whole population in a critical way. Time of year may also be an important factor in assessing vulnerability and, hence, potential. Loss of heating in summer is less significant than it is in winter. Likewise, loss of refrigeration in winter may be less critical than in summer.

A resilience and vulnerability profile is an integral element of effective planning in the management of consequences to a community in an emergency or disaster. Resilience can be taken to be the capacity of a group or organization to withstand loss or damage or to recover from the impact of an emergency or disaster. Vulnerability is a broad measure of the susceptibility to suffer loss or damage. The higher the resilience, the less likely damage may be, and the faster and more effective recovery is likely to be. Conversely, the higher vulnerability is, the more exposed to loss and damage is the household, community or organization.

Resilience and vulnerability assessment is a process that is a necessary component of effective emergency management planning. However, it is unlikely that any assessment, or community audit, will capture every potential need or identify every person who, in some circumstance, may be exposed to a risk or to the possibility of some loss. This suggests that following an emergency or disaster it will be necessary to scan the affected area, through information campaigns, outreach programs, letterbox drops, and other methods, to identify people who require assistance.

Any resilience and vulnerability analysis needs to be conducted with sensitivity and proper regard for people’s privacy. This includes their right not to provide information. Additionally, due regard must be paid to the legal and other requirements of maintaining appropriate standards of confidentiality when dealing with information from the public. This information can be used as guidelines to assist planning by community members, emergency managers, etc. engaged in emergency prevention or response or recovery activities. It can be used by emergency managers from any level of community or organizational level as well.

Conducting a resilience and vulnerability analysis is not an end in itself. The purpose behind such activity is to highlight issues, needs and concerns and to work to effect a change—to improve resilience and/or to reduce vulnerability.

Once the vulnerability assessment has been undertaken, the results will identify special needs which can be directly addressed as part of the local emergency management process. The results of the assessment should directly inform the process of planning, prevention and preparedness and may be made available to individuals, groups, communities and agencies to assist them with their local activity.

Significance

Mental Health Services before, during and following disasters, critical incidents, crises, and terrorist activities are becoming an integral part of disaster and critical incident preparedness, mitigation, response, and follow-up. Disaster Mental Health Services is a relatively new field which has expanded significantly within the past ten years. Critical Incident Stress Management and related interventions have been around since the early 1980s and, in one form or another since WW II. In order to continue to grow and meet identified needs, both require continued development as well as focused research, training and ongoing strategic planning. Research will help identify how Mental Health Services can best be utilized as well as how relevant changes need to be made in practice. Networking and sharing experiences can also help develop resources. Ongoing training and updates from the field help mental health professionals and first responders to remain on the same page when responding. Strategic planning can help prepare responders and mental health professionals for their respective roles in a real event.

The long-term goal includes training emergency Disaster Mental Health teams and CISM teams to conduct interventions for corporations, states, municipalities and rural communities in the Rocky Mountain region and other parts of the country and to evaluate their effectiveness in reducing the effects of trauma on first responders and others as well as affected communities and organizations.

Fifth Annual Rocky Mountain Region Disaster Mental Health Conference Papers

In order to help promote dissemination of relevant information presented at the Fifth Annual Rocky Mountain Region Disaster Mental Health Conference, presenters were asked to submit papers for publication. Those who responded to this call have their papers included in this volume. Additional presentations are summarized in an additional article included herein.

In a thoughtful and discussion-provoking paper, Alan Hensley analyzes why good people go bad from a psychosocial viewpoint of events that occurred at Abu Ghraib. This was a hastily created detention facility used to contain individuals who jeopardized potential success in Iraq. Inmates represented a perceived threat to a greatly outnumbered guard force. Few, if any spoke English. A large contingent of CIA and contract former military counter-intelligence officers were assigned and were provided a wide degree of latitude in how they operated. Hensley contends that the Department of Defense neglected to recognize such variables and concerns as Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, group schema theory, the effects of fear and sleep deprivation, or take advantage of information resulting from Zimbardo’s (2004) Stanford Prison Experiment of the 1970’s. He suggests that looking at these factors would have been helpful in predicting the outcome of Abu Ghraib in forewarning about key thinking errors and in predicting the potential for posttraumatic stress among the guards. Hensley offers practical solutions that may have helped prevent the embarrassment of Abu Ghraib and other highly visible alleged atrocities in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF). He further argues that we are creating a generation that will create an unprecedented strain on the nation’s medical and mental healthcare system which is likely to become multi-generational. Information in Hensley’s paper can be generalized in some respects to responses in other environments such as those seen in Hurricane Katrina.

In the Role of Culture and Cultural Sensitivity in Disaster Response, Hensley also reports on and responds to the contents of one of the conference roundtable discussions. New Orleans and the gulf region experienced the most intense natural disaster in recent United States history. The city of Philadelphia offered to provide care, shelter, and treatment for gulf families in Philadelphia. WES Corporation, Pennsylvania’s largest African American managed behavioral health organization, was asked to provide emergency assessment, triage, and treatment. In their paper, Glass and Graves highlight the process of developing effective and culturally competent services for victims of a natural disaster in a short time frame in an ethical manner. They discuss services, including: understanding the clinician’s ethical challenges in natural disasters; creating culturally competent care and privacy in an emergency situation; articulating the unique aspects of engaging families of varying ethnic backgrounds in a temporary setting; and balancing your existing work with new demands.

What is it like living in a state of perpetual war and terror? Tragedy put in its appearance at Mike’s Place after midnight on a Wednesday in April 2003. Mike’s Place is a rock and roll bar next to the American Embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel. On April 23, 2003, two well-dressed young men with British passports approached. Avi Tabib was the security guard who sensed something unusual about these customers and confronted them at the curb. The explosion that followed killed four, including the terrorist, and wounded over fifty. Avi survived, but experienced a long and painful recovery. Based on interviews with Avi and other survivors, Curtis and Faudem present details about his resiliency and the fortitude of coworkers who reopened Mike’s Place on Israel’s Independence Day one week after the attack. As part of their presentation, a documentary film Blues By The Beach, made by Faudem and his associates, showed footage. of the suicide bomber as he exploded himself on Jam Nite. The film also showed the effects of terror, the aftermath and moving on. In their paper, Curtis and Faudem discuss these events.

John Durkin discusses how the National Health Service in the United Kingdom follows guidelines on the treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) that demand cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and drug therapies. He further discusses concerns that are emerging that this “medical model” viewpoint of stress may be restraining innovation and limiting progress. Durkin suggests that viewing stress in a person-centered way may offer a practical, flexible and potentially superior alternative to the medical model. Using Traumatic Incident Reduction (TIR) as an example of a person-centered approach, he challenges the relevance of formal diagnosis and treatment to the resolution of distress.

Hensley also presents a case study about a woman identified as suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). He discusses the use of Traumatic Incident Reduction (TIR) as an approach to this intriguing and complicated case.

In October 2005, the United States Department of Health and Human Services published a warning of a new influenza pandemic. It proposed a scenario in which 8.5 million Americans would be hospitalized and 1.9 million would die. In the event of such a catastrophe or of a biological/chemical terrorism attack, over-extended local medical facilities would be confronted by a crush of non-exposed citizens while trying to deal with those who have been infected. In his paper, Thom Curtis, Ph.D. proposes a role for disaster mental health workers in assisting the medical community to triage and separate the sick from those merely worried.

In 2005, Patricia Justice visited as a Volunteer the worst hit area of Thailand after the 2004 tsunami. She has returned four times to the same area to follow up on the progress in Khoa Lak where over 6,000 lives were lost. Many of the bodies have still not been identified and lie in refrigerated trucks in the same area. Survivors still do not know whether their loved ones bodies will ever be returned to them or are lost forever. In 2006, Justice also did follow-up work in Sri Lanka. In her paper, she discusses the impact on those people who work or worked with the survivors. She also points out that little is known about the impacts on the workers. Justice herself was involved in a near fatal car crash in April 2006 and in her paper she discusses how the survivors of the tsunami “cared for me”. Topics she addresses include: How long can those directly involved keep going? What effect does it have on them and their families? What preparation do they need for future events? Can we do anything to prevent secondary traumatization for workers? In 1996, Justice was involved as a trauma therapist following the Docklands Bomb (ex IRA) in London, England. At the time, she also researched the experience of counselors and Critical Incident Debriefing from this event. In her paper, she discusses some of her findings. She also presents her own experiences of working in both Thailand and Sri Lanka following the tsunami on December 24th, 2004. She concludes with a plea for recognition that care for caregivers is an important area of concern for responders to consider in preparation for future events.

The fields of critical incident response, crisis intervention, and disaster mental health are in constant flux and evolve with every major disaster. Every week the headlines reflect terrorism, natural disasters, and fears of pandemics. New information comes out regularly. This makes it necessary to keep those who must meet these challenges abreast of important changes as they occur. Ongoing training and updates based on changes in the field and evidence-informed feedback from field experience and research is crucial to maintaining appropriate and high levels of training among instructors, responders and mental health professionals. The International Critical Incident Stress Foundation (ICISF), in partnership with Weber State University has undertaken an on-line learning initiative intended to help broaden the availability of updated training material to those involved in the crisis and disaster mental health fields. In his paper, Richard Conroy discusses the grant funding Weber State University received to explore the expansion of critical incident stress management training in the western United States, One of the grant objectives is to make training information available to students in new and innovative ways. The pilot course developed for online access is titled The Changing Face of Crisis and Disaster Mental Health Intervention. The course is designed to provide an ongoing update in the fields of critical incident response, crisis intervention, and disaster mental health. Conroy emphasizes that updates provide access to the latest trends, theories, and practices.

Major factors affecting families with military members include war-zone military service, family separation, and readjustment back into the community by service members. Posttraumatic stress (including PTSD) and psychosocial malfunctioning are among problems encountered. Strengths that contribute to resiliency by all family members include religious values, a positive outlook on life events, family support and various forms of psycho-social interventions (Apellaniz, 1999). Debbie Russell presents information about Family Assistance Centers (FAC’s) in Wyoming and their responses in support of all DOD deployed families, all services, and all components. The FACs are critical links for Service Members, families, commands and the community. They are strategically placed within the state to overcome the large geographic distances that frequently separate families from centralized, installation-based services. The FACs are the primary entry point for assistance for all Service Members regardless of Service Component. They provide information, referral, and outreach to Service Members and families during the deployment process—preparation (pre-deployment), sustainment (actual deployment), and reunion (reintegration). Such services are vital to the welfare of families during deployments. They also provide critical assistance to demobilizing Service Members and promote the long-term health and welfare of the military family. FACs also provide information and services for retirees and Veterans. Russell’s contribution provides mental health professionals and first responders with information and resources available to increase awareness of how to effectively respond to and assist with families of deployed Service Members in rural areas such as Wyoming.

Summary

The presenters, presentations and delegates at this conference represented the various areas and issues that the fields of disaster mental health, trauma, and critical incident response are facing in our continually changing world. With the challenges of terrorism, natural and man-made disasters, global warming, hazardous material events, air, auto, housefire disasters, wildfires, floods and other critical incidents seeming to be more pervasive in recent years, it is incumbent upon responders, mental health professionals and emergency managers to continually update and increase their education, training and planning to be able to effectively respond to future events. Families of deployed military personnel and their returning relatives and friends will need all of us to be there for them now and when they return home. It is critical that we as responders and mental health professionals network with and assist where we can with military and veteran groups and others in order to accomplish the goals in which we each believe.

About the Author

George W. Doherty has held positions as counselor/therapist, Masters Level psychologist, consultant, educator, and disaster mental health specialist and is a former U.S. Air Force Officer, Connally Navigator, USAF. Currently, he serves as President of O’Dochartaigh Associates, a position he has held since 1985. He is also President and CEO of the Rocky Mountain Region Disaster Mental Health Institute. He has served as a Masters Psychologist for Rural Clinics Community Counseling Center (State of Nevada) in Ely, NV, an Adjunct Instructor the University of Wyoming, an Adjunct Instructor for Northern Nevada Community College, currently an Adjunct Faculty member of Kennedy-Western University. He is a Certified Instructor, International Critical Incident Stress Foundation (ICISF), Certified WY POST Instructor. Editorial Board, PsycCRITIQUES, Level II Member of International Critical Incident Stress Foundation and. Member, Traumatic Incident Reduction Association (TIRA), Associate Member of the American Psychological Association, Life Member of the Air Force Association, Life Member of the Penn State Alumni Association. Member American Counseling Association, Life Member of the Military Officers Association of America and serves as an Alumni Admissions Volunteer with The Pennsylvania State University. He has served in the Civil Air Patrol (an Air Force Auxiliary) as a Squadron Commander, Deputy Wing Commander, Air Operations Officer and Master Observer,

REFERENCES

Apellaniz, Ilia Maria (April 1999). Coping with war enforced separation: A pilot study on the account of wives of Puerto Rican civilian soldiers. Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B: The Sciences & Engineering, Vol 59(10-B), pp. 5567.

Zimbardo, P. (2004). Stanford prison experiment: A simulation study of the psychology of imprisonment conducted at Stanford University. Retrieved on September 27, 2005 from http://www.prisonexp.org/

Why Good People Go Bad:

A Case Study of the Abu Ghraib Prison Abuse Courts-Martial

Alan L. Hensley, PhD Candidate, BCETS, FAAETS

Abstract

Problems cannot be solved at the same level of awareness that created them. More than three years have elapsed since the revelation of the abuses at the Abu Ghraib Prison. Careers have been ruined and lives inextricably altered. Ten court-martials have occurred, with another soon approaching. However, the endemic factors that led to the abuses have yet to be addressed. This article addresses the events in context of well-grounded psychological, sociological, and criminological theory and research.

Introduction

More than three years have elapsed since Military Police Sergeant Joseph Darby first alerted the U.S. Criminal Justice Command to alleged prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib Prison complex. To support his allegation, Darby provided a compact disc of images of naked prisoners, being forced into homosexual activity and other degrading acts as American military men and women looked on. The revelations sparked one of the most intense investigations undertaken in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

In April 2004, the television program, 60 Minutes broke the story of the alleged abuse of prisoners with graphic pictures to the world. The images sparked international outrage. To quell the furor, it became apparent that the military hierarchy must demonstrate disapproval of the behavior of the participating members of the 372nd Military Police Battalion.

In July 2003, General Sanchez, Commanding Officer of the United Central Command, relieved Brigadier General Janis Karpenski of command of the facility, replacing her with Major General Geoffrey Miller, former Commander of the controversial Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility in Cuba.

Eleven other persons formerly assigned to Abu Ghraib have since been subjected to court martial. Each defendant has been found guilty of violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) and sentenced accordingly. To the population not indoctrinated in the effects and comorbidity associated with complex traumatic stress, the problem has been resolved. However, the author suggests that the chosen solution has merely produced a scab on an insidious wound.