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Crisis Definitions
A Crisis may be viewed as the transitional period presenting an individual with, on the one hand, an opportunity for personality growth or maturation and, on the other, a risk of adverse affect with increased vulnerability to subsequent stress.
W Thomas(1909): described Crisis as a threat, a challenge, a strain on the intention, a call to new action. Yet it need not always be acute or extreme. Of course a crisis may be so serious as to kill the organism or destroy the group, or it may result in failure or deterioration. But Crisis is not to be regarded as habitually violent. It is simply a disturbance of habit and may be no more than an incident, a stimulation, a suggestion.
Crisis Definitions
Erikson(1965): Viewed personality development as a succession of differentiated phases, each qualitatively different from its predecessor. Between one phase and the next are periods characterised by cognitive and affective upset. Gerald Caplan: Refers to Crisis as an upset in the steady state A crisis is provoked when an individual, faced with an obstacle to important life goals, finds that it is for the time being insurmountable through the utilisation of customary methods of problem solving
Accidental Crises
Traumatic events which might or might not happen at a given time. These could either be major catastrophes such as earthquakes, floods, etc., which could affect a whole section of society. Or individual crises like a child losing its mother at an early age, even the loss of a job or a broken relationship, or any other sudden tragic event.
Developmental Crises
Erikson calls these: developmental crises as distinct from accidental crises associated with various life hazards: Events such as birth, which is a crisis both for the mother and the infant, the onset of puberty and adolescence, marriage, the menopause, and so on as we progress through the biological stages of life. These differ from accidental crisis in that they necessarily occur at a given point in development and everyone has to pass through them.
Socio-cultural Crises
These are situations like facing the first day at school, the Leaving Certificate, or marriage. Such situations are not part of our biological development, yet, we have structured our society so that, unless these hurdles are overcome, our future is severely curtailed. Thus we have institutionalised certain forms of crisis that, unless successfully dealt with, can have very deleterious effects.
A Turning Point
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A major crisis can often represent a turning point in a persons life. It is a hurdle, that has to be surmounted if the person is to continue on satisfactorily through life. If a crisis can be handled successfully then the person will be more mature as a result. But if it cannot be overcome then some maladaptive pathway is likely to develop and this often signals the onset of what later becomes a formal mental illness.
involved in facing an examination, tackling a new job, or the struggle in late adolescence to leave ones family of origin and become independent. - This kind of crisis demands action,, having the courage to face the situation and overcome it.
- The other form is one which involves hurt or loss, such as the death of someone close to us, or to suffer rape or sexual abuse. - In these situations the response required, is to feel the pain and work through emotion which is appropriate to the situation and in this way resolve it
Determinism
The traditional view was that if all the influences, genetic and developmental that went to form the person entering adolescence, could be known, then one could say with certainty how he would react. However, because it is never possible to know all of these influences fully we could not make such deterministic predictions.
Indeterminism
Over the past 50 years research by Prigogine and others has demonstrated unequivocally that even if we knew all of the inputs and influences playing on an adolescent, we would still not be able to say with certainty how the situation would evolve. There is a fundamental indeterminacy in any complex system because the essential causeof how a living system will behave, lies within that system itself. Although it is undoubtedly influenced by its past history, once it reaches a crisis point, no one can say with certainty how it will behave.
Indeterminism
Phases of a Crisis
Phase 1: Initial rise in tension from the impact of the stimulus calls forth habitual problem solving responses. Phase 2: Lack of success and continuation of stimulus is associated with increasing upset and ineffectuality. Phase 3:Further rise in tension acts as a powerful internal stimulus and calls out emergency problem solving mechanisms - novel methods to attack the problem, trial and error, and attempts to define the problem in a new way.
Crisis Theory
By Ivor Browne
Crisis Intervention
1. Family, friends or neighbours may encourage adaptive responses, but in other instances may reinforce maladaptive responses; e.g. in the denial of grief. 2. A person may turn for help to front-line professionals in the community, i.e. clergy, general practitioners, police, public health nurses, solicitors, etc.
Intervention (cont.)
3. During a crisis, an individual experiences a heightened desire for help, and the signs of distress evoke a helping response from those around, which seems like a primitive biosocial reaction. 4. During a crisis a person is more susceptible to influence by others. When the forces are teetering in the balance, a relatively minor intervention may weigh them down to one side or the other.