Abstract
The ethical provision of psychological aid following international disasters is influenced by cultural factors and questions about how to effectively promote social justice. A need for holistic, systemic postdisaster mental health approaches has been identified (Wessells, 2009). This article presents a systemic epistemology superimposed on a social justice framework as a model for conceptualizing ethical service delivery in international disaster psychology. Implications of three underlying conceptual perspectives in international mental health ethics-absolutism, relativism, and universalism-are discussed. A case example is provided that illustrates how a family systems epistemology offers a flexible, integrated way to understand the universalist approach while placing social justice concerns relevant to international disaster psychology into a nested model, where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 79-85 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Traumatology |
Volume | 18 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 2012 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- disaster psychology
- family systems
- international code of ethics
- mental health
- relief aid
- social justice
- systems
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Nursing
- Emergency Medicine
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health