Communities have the potential to function effectively and adapt successfully in the aftermath of disasters. Drawing upon literatures in several disciplines, we present a theory of resilience that encompasses contemporary understandings of stress, adaptation, wellness, and resource dynamics. Community resilience is a process linking a network of adaptive capacities (resources with dynamic attributes) to adaptation after a disturbance or adversity. Community adaptation is manifest in population wellness, defined as high and non-disparate levels of mental and behavioral health, functioning, and quality of life. Community resilience emerges from four primary sets of adaptive capacities--Economic Development, Social Capital, Information and Communication, and Community Competence--that together provide a strategy for disaster readiness. To build collective resilience, communities must reduce risk and resource inequities, engage local people in mitigation, create organizational linkages, boost and protect social supports, and plan for not having a plan, which requires flexibility, decision-making skills, and trusted sources of information that function in the face of unknowns.

This article provides a comprehensive overview of research that has examined the content and prevalence of stereotypic media images of the poor. Research examining televised images and print media are reviewed. An analysis of media framing as well as classist, racist, and sexist imagery is provided. Additionally, to assess media depictions of the poor in the wake of welfare reform, 412 newspaper articles about poverty and welfare published during a 3-month period in 1999 were content analyzed. Although most articles were neutral in tone and portrayed the difficulties facing welfare recipients and the poor sympathetically, they did little to contextualize poverty or illuminate its causes. These findings are discussed in terms of their context and political function.The media are omnipresent in our everyday lives. Cable television provides viewers with a growing number of channels to choose from; videotapes provide easy access to films; and the Internet, newspapers, and 24-hour news radio and television programs provide round-the-clock coverage of current events. In their many forms, media have the potential to educate, raise consciousness, and shape public attitudes (Kinder, 1998).

A significant percentage (57%) of these women experienced distress at levels that indicate further evaluation is indicated. This study suggests that early screening and evaluation are essential in this group of cancer patients.

Community resilience activities were assessed in workplace teams that became first responders for Hurricane Katrina survivors. Community resilience was assessed by a survey, focus groups, and key informant interviews. On the survey, 90 first responders ranked their team's disaster response performance as high on community resilience activities. The same participants, interviewed in 11 focus groups and 3 key informant interviews, discussed how their teams engaged in community resilience activities to strengthen their ability to deliver services. Specifically, their resilient behaviors were characterized by: shared organizational identity, purpose, and values; mutual support and trust; role flexibility; active problem solving; self-reflection; shared leadership; and skill building. The implications for research, policy, practice, and education of professionals are discussed.

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