Community Stress and Resources: Actions and Reactions

Abstract

The authors present the basic tenets of Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, and illustrate them through examples from the stress literature. A central assumption of this theory is that individuals and communities act to maximize their resources. Stress is the result of being threatened with the loss of resources, actually losing resources, or investing resources without adequate return on the investment. This theory provides a framework for understanding a community's historical experiences and for predicting its likely future development, given current stressors and resources. It has implications for the study of and for intervention into community stress. A number of these implications are discussed. Drawing on COR theory and a particular event of extreme community stress, the Lucasville prison uprising, the authors outline several potential roadblocks to effective community intervention. Obstacles include: the presence of unidentified subcommunities within the affected community; the process of stress contagion; the operation of political agendas; and the focus on short-term needs to the detriment of long-term functioning. The authors suggest several approaches to counteracting and overcoming these obstacles, including careful emergency planning prior to the event, centralized information and communication during the event, and assistance to leaders to optimize their decision-making under stress. [Adapted from Introduction, pp. 131-132]