Psychology In Policy
WHAT DOES “PSYCHOLOGY IN POLICY”
MEAN?
PSYCHOLOGY BEYOND BORDERS is dedicated to
seeing psychology become an integral part of policy at all levels of community,
national and international governance.
PSYCHOLOGY BEYOND BORDERS adheres to the
definition of “Psychology” adopted by the American Psychological Association (www.apa.org):
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. The
discipline embraces all aspects of the human experience — from the functions of
the brain to the actions of nations, from child development to care for the
aged. In every conceivable setting from scientific research centers to mental
health care services, "the understanding of behavior" is the
enterprise of psychologists. The
dominant response to large-scale tragic events by governments and NGOs
typically focuses on the physical response: the provision of shelter,
water, food, medical attention. While these physical provisions are
necessary “givens” in the immediate aftermath of any disaster, we know
that the negative impacts of disaster are not just a function of the
disaster itself, but also of the human response to the disaster. Any
large-scale tragedy that disrupts social networks, increases physical
and emotional stress, and causes significant loss - of loved ones, of
possessions, of ways of life – can have major psychosocial
consequences. The psychosocial impacts can range from virtually
nothing to severely debilitating, the temporary to the long term, the
localised to the widespread. The effects can permeate through multiple
levels of society: individual, family, community, organisational,
regional, national and global. We
know from research all over the world that the psychological or mental
health consequences of large-scale tragedy can play out for decades,
resulting in huge national costs to the health system, the workplace,
the economy. We
also know from research about the effects of exposure to violence and
large-scale tragedy resulting from natural disaster, armed conflict or
terror attacks, that the psychological and the physical consequences
are inexorably linked – inherent parts of a whole that cannot be
separated. Lessons from past catastrophic disasters in the Americas,
Asia, the Middle East, and other countries, whether freak acts of
nature or deliberately orchestrated, suggest that there is no single
universal response to such trauma, and there is no universal timeline
for recovery. Some of us will take longer than others to find our “new
normal” life, and some of us will find ourselves unable to learn that
what happened has passed. We may become paralysed by the horror we
witnessed, unable to see a way forward, unable to “move on” or even
move through. Our terror may evolve into clinical diagnoses such as
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), an anxiety related mental
illness, or in children, developmental disorders. Research also tells
us that such distress can play out in the body and/or in behaviour: as
witnessed by increased incidence of heart disease by those most
stressed in the aftermath of 9/11 or decreased immune system
functioning in Lebanese people following prolonged exposure to war.
Behaviourally, consequences can be individual, such as the increased
risk-seeking behaviour of Israeli teenagers, or at a collective level –
an increase in the number of fatal traffic accidents following fatal
terror attacks in Israeli cities. The lessons from the research and
anecdotal evidence from all of these disasters – both human
orchestrated and natural – is that the mind and the emotions affect the
body, and the body affects the mind and emotions. Therefore BOTH psychosocial and physical considerations must be inherent components of policy.
Psychology into policy means that:
Disaster Prevention, Preparedness and Response Policies
are underpinned by a “do no further harm” mantra.
- Disaster Preparedness Policies
acknowledge the sustaining power of natural human support networks. Programs equip people in their own countries
and communities to support each other.
- Disaster Preparedness Policies
include training programs in advanced trauma treatment for mental health
workers, first responders, public health professionals, natural first
responders such as teachers and clergy, are planned and ready to be activated.
- Disaster Response Policies and programs
empower impacted communities and families to maintain their routines: finding work, returning to school,
resuming normal household activities such as cooking and cleaning, all
facilitate “movement” and doing.
- Disaster Response Policies include plans
for public health screening processes ready to be activated to identify those
who are experiencing acute signs of distress within the community.
- Disaster Response Policies
ensure responders have the resources to sustain them as they help others. If not resourced, both physically and
emotionally, responders such as emergency workers, counsellors and volunteers
can all suffer “secondary trauma”.
- Disaster Response Policies include provision
for programs that de-stigmatise stress responses to large-scale tragedies with
the acknowledgement that for most of us affected by
large-scale disaster, either directly, or vicariously through our exposure via
the media, our grief, anger, anxiety and horror are normal responses to an
abnormal event. This includes de-stigmatisation of
symptoms of distress among responders.
- Disaster Preparedness Policies
include ongoing dialogue with news organisations toward defining specific
policies for how traumatic events might be covered in the media so as to
minimise trauma for most readers/viewers.
Research after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks revealed many more
people were traumatised through indirect exposure through the media than
directly exposed in the vicinity of the attacks.
- Counter-Terrorism Policies include
strategies for prevention by systematic deliberate programs which build bridges
of understanding between East and West, provide ways for alienated youth to
identify with the homeland national story, provide cross-cultural community
education and integration opportunities to help reduce racism and build mutual
understanding and acceptance.
- Counter-Terrorism Policies acknowledge that
terrorism is fundamentally psychological warfare and therefore
counter-terrorism strategies pervasively include the psychological – such as
public education programs in accurate risk assessment and anxiety management
techniques.
- Refugee Placement Policies incorporate
psychosocial elements in the design of displaced persons camps and transitions
to and from such camps, taking into account the
potent healing power of communities, no matter where they are -- with the refugee’s long term psychological well being as the
guiding force.
- Refugee Placement Policies take account the
potential for culture shock and displacement shock, especially when refugees
are located to new countries. Systematic cultural, social and psychological
orientation programs are built-in to prevent and ease such shock.
These are just a sample of the
strategies that include psychology in policy relative to large-scale tragic
events. As a journalist, Anderson Cooper stated when he first toured New Orleans
after Hurricane Katrina: “The waves of
sorrow have only just begun”. A planned systemic regional/state/national response that
gives equal space to the physical and the psychosocial can help people move
through the waves and rebuild their lives in ways that ease their distress, not
compound it.
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