Helping Victims of Terrorism: What Makes Social Work Effective‪?‬

Terrorism is a worldwide problem. Studies conducted among adults who were exposed to political violence in Bosnia and Croatia (Grgic, Mandic, Koic, & Knezevic, 2002), Palestine and Israel (Baker & Kevorkian, 1995; Shamai, 2001), and the United States (for example, Galea et al., 2002; Silver, Holman, McIntosh, Poulin, & Gil-Rivas, 2002) reveal that these experiences produce serious personal consequences, such as heightened anxiety, depression, phobias, a reduced sense of safety, and heightened posttraumatic stress symptoms. In addition, experiencing terrorism can lead to increased use of tobacco, alcohol and drugs, and to self-medication. Notwithstanding these negative consequences, consistent efforts have been made in recent years to document ways in which people may benefit from adverse events and undergo some positive life changes. For example, findings from several studies have revealed that victims of traumatic events experienced enhanced intimacy with others, changed life priorities, greater sensitivity to others, and increased spirituality (McMillen & Fisher, 1998; Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1996). Following terrorist attacks, social workers engage in short- and long-term intervention with victims (Ribner, 1993). The research on the effectiveness of social work interventions in the wake of such events, however, is limited. Moreover, most of the available studies assessed macro-level interventions, such as group work (Miller, 2003) or community interventions (Boss, Beaulieu, Wieling, Turner, & LaCruz, 2003). Only a few studies assessed the effectiveness of an individual, micro-level treatment (Fontana, Ford, & Rosenheck, 2003).