Coping Capacity and Response Capability

Crisis events present challenges to people that fall well outside the realm of normal human experience, possibly for periods of time that can range from months to years, decades, or a lifetime. This circumstance can thus require the development of new coping and response mechanisms to supplement or complement those used in more routine contexts. Furthermore, large-scale crisis events, such as natural disasters and acts of terrorism, impact people, affect communities, and disrupt the societal mechanism people normally rely on to cope with the demands of everyday life. Under normal circumstances, people are generally unaware of how interdependencies between themselves and community and societal processes (e.g., economic, cultural, political) influence how they cope with the demands of daily life. However, crisis events that create wholesale disruption across all levels of society throw these interdependencies into sharp relief and highlight a need to accommodate them within a comprehensive definition of crisis coping capacity and response capability.

The challenging and often enduring nature of crisis events results in people's knowledge and resources being insufficient or inappropriate for successful coping. People thus find themselves needing to rely not just on themselves but also on information, resources, and guidance provided by their social networks and government and nongovernmental agencies. Effective coping and response thus becomes a function of the degree to which personal, community, and societal factors interact effectively.

Effective crisis coping and response capability comprises three separate but related elements. The first is possessing the resources (e.g., knowledge, skills, financial) required to adapt to disruption and losses. The second is having the competencies necessary to identify, mobilize, organize, use, and, if necessary, obtain these resources. Finally, it is pertinent to identify the mechanisms that operationalize personal, community, and societal interdependencies to provide a comprehensive capacity to respond. This article starts with people's contribution to coping with crises.