Catastrophes: An Overview of Family Reactions

Abstract

The story of the Allen family will unfold throughout this chapter. The shock of the accident and the sudden and profound impact it had on the lives of the victims-Maria and her family-exemplify the major thesis of this chapter and those to follow: that the family is a critical support system to human beings during and following a traumatic event and that the system and its members are affected in addition to the victim, and sometimes to a greater degree. In order to lay the groundwork, this chapter will attempt to reach three objectives: 1) to define and discuss the significance of catastrophic events and their impact on human emotion and behavior; 2) to characterize the patterns of family reactions to catastrophic versus normative sources of stress; and 3) to characterize the functional versus the dysfunctional methods of families' coping with stress.

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