The purpose of this assignment is to examine the psychological phases of disaster response and how these are uniquely experienced by affected individuals and communities. Through the course materials, we have learned that psychologically processing disaster events generally follows a predictable set of phases. Although this is not always the case, these phases are the norm versus the exception in disaster behavioral responses. For this assignment, briefly explain the five commonly accepted psychological phases of disaster responses. As a reminder, these include (1) the pre-disaster phase, (2) the hero phase, (3) the honeymoon phase, (4) the disillusionment phase, and (5) the reconstruction phase. After providing a review of the phases noted above, examine individual and community responses to a disaster event of your choice, provide a summary of the psychological phases of disaster response displayed in the example. Explain, with detail, how the selected phase(s) is appropriate to describe the observed behavior(s) from the example. Close your work with a discussion of the role of cultural competence during any of the phases of psychological disaster response and how such awareness might affect the actions of behavioral health professionals as psychological first aid (PFA) is implemented. Work should be submitted in a Word document (doc. or docx.) or other compatible word processing document (.rtf), and be 4 to 6 pages in length, excluding the required title and reference page. Scholarly sources should be cited both in-text and on the reference page of the submission. A minimum of four academic, scholarly sources are required to be cited in the work. Submissions should be formatted per 7th edition (revised) APA standards. For assistance and resources on APA formatting style, please see the APUS Writing Center at Writing@APUS. The Week 2 assignment should be submitted by SUNDAY of Week 2, NLT 11:59 pm ET to the Week 2 Assignment Link accessed through the Assignments Link on the left of the main course screen. The school Late Policy applies to all course assignments and can be found in the course syllabus.
