GRADUATE SCHOOL OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND PUBLIC SAFETY

General Luna Road, Baguio City Philippines 2600

Website: www.ubaguio.edu
Telefax No.: (074) 442-3071 E-mail Address: ub@ubaguio.edu

Name of Student: Marilyn M. Duan-Balo

Subject and Schedule: Crisis Intervention & Management/ 1400H to 1730H
Date: 02 February 2019
Activity: Critic Paper
Facilitator: Marie joy Macli-ing Capdos PhD

Crisis Intervention: An Opportunity to Change

In our daily lives, a word crisis is referring to our difficult times or any trouble that we
encounter just like financial crisis.

Crisis Intervention is a technique used to a problem solving. The ultimate purpose is to

reduce the emotional turmoil of a person.

On the other hand, Crisis Management is the application of the technique being used
which is originally designed to deal with potential risk.

Individual’s inability to deal effectively with stressful changes in the environment is one of
the common reasons of internal crisis. Internal crisis is a situation inside or an emotion coming
from within which is includes spiritual and mental life. In a certain organization, it is the situation
inside of the organization or agency.

In Hostage Taking, the inability to deal effectively with the hostage-taker is fatal,
imminent risk of danger, violent and often chaotic. Oftentimes, the hostage-taker is depressed
and mostly suicidal so they need a negotiator that is skilled practical psychologist to understand
deeply what the former is going through. Intense negotiation may takes an hour or even days
and require most every types of communication strategy.

In Demolition, the inability to deal effectively with the changes in the environment is
usually resulted to risk of danger and death both in the demolition team and the respondent-
resident. The residency on that area must know in advance the date of the demolition, the
authority to demolish and relocation site. Oftentimes, the demolition leader must require a
highest form of communication skills to gain the heart of the people to agree to his side.

The Mass Demonstration is not that chaotic compared to Hostage taking and Demolition
provided that they have a permit to form an assembly or permit to conduct rally. The militant is
the people marching and form a mass demonstration to show their disagreement, protest
against government and often deal with political, economic, and social issues. Demonstrations
can be nonviolent or violent depending on the blockades or by the actions of the uniform
personnel. Sometimes, violent situations are caused by the preemptive or offensive use of these
weapons which can provoke, destabilize, or escalate a conflict.

The US Historian, Eric Hobsbawm stated that that “next to sex, the activity combining
bodily experience and intense emotion to the highest degree is the participation in a mass
demonstration at a time of great public exaltation. Unlike sex, which is essentially individual, it is
by its nature collective like sex it implies some physical action—marching, chanting slogans,
singing—through which the merger of the individual in the mass, which is the essence of the
collective experience”.

1 | 3 https://www.google.com/search?q=crisis+definition, www.wikipedia.org,http://www.chanrobles.com/guidelinesgoverninglaborelations
http://www.minddisorders.co, www.counseling.org/resources/library, www.likein.com.ph
“The fate of the wounded rests in the hands of the ones who apply the first dressing.” Nicholas, Senn
 GRADUATE SCHOOL OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND PUBLIC SAFETY
General Luna Road, Baguio City Philippines 2600

Website: www.ubaguio.edu
Telefax No.: (074) 442-3071 E-mail Address: ub@ubaguio.edu

Following this is the Labor Strikes; the inability to deal effectively with the stressful
changes in the workplace oftentimes resulted to strikes but not chaotic or fatal. Unlike in
Hostage Taking, Demolitions, and Mass Demonstration, the right to strike is a constitutional. It is
a legal right of the workers to conduct labor strikes while the employer has a legal right to
conduct lockouts.

Since it is constitutional, the law provides reportorial requirements to have a valid strike
or lockout just like a notice to be filed with the Labor Department and must supported by a
majority vote of the members of the union or of the members of the Board of Directors. During a
strike or lockout, either of the parties is prohibited from committing illegal acts.

The ability to deal effectively or communicate effectively with employees or employers

may result to productivity, retention and peace within the work place. So, the employers must
have effective communication skills to deal with his employees and to know their mental,
emotional or social state to avoid strikes, mass demonstration, or worst, hostage taking.

As a sort of summary, the article is focusing on psychological disequilibrium of an

individual including the signs and symptoms that may indicate a problem resulting to crisis or
traumatic situation. It was mentioned that after the identification of a problem and assessment of
the crisis and its causes, the crisis intervention may come in. This is a certain point which is
integral to complete the intervention process.

Crisis intervention is a process by which certain weakest points must identify, best time
for planning and time for recognizing necessary steps to attained success and to restore
balance and reduce the effects of the crisis in life. To end their article, the authors mentioned
about the suggestion of a Chinese Characters “wei ji” that means “In a critical situation, crisis
truly holds the opportunity for change” But how?

To critic Ma’am’s Brenda A. Stevens and Lynette S. Ellerbrock Article, their ideas are
jumping to a conclusion that crisis truly holds the opportunity to change without mentioning on
how that “crisis” turns into “change”.

Needless to say that the authors did not even try to mentioned who is the specific
Chinese author necessary to their quotation since they are quoting someone’s word. They are
just simply stated to end their article that “crisis truly holds the opportunity for change” without
any illustrated statement on how that can be. But, truly to my mind, the title should be crisis
intervention in a psychological disequilibrium context because that’s what the article is focusing
to.

There is no specific research question or hypothesis is noted but the authors present the
overall context as qualitative study. It provides insights, opinions, and motivations to have
clearly understanding/grasp on the intervention if crisis occurs. However, there is no systematic
inquiry but the discussion is clearly stated guidelines, a description of psychological
disequilibrium, an interpretation and necessary steps to restore balance and reduce the effects
of the crisis in life for further quantitative research.

2 | 3 https://www.google.com/search?q=crisis+definition, www.wikipedia.org,http://www.chanrobles.com/guidelinesgoverninglaborelations
http://www.minddisorders.co, www.counseling.org/resources/library, www.likein.com.ph
“The fate of the wounded rests in the hands of the ones who apply the first dressing.” Nicholas, Senn
 GRADUATE SCHOOL OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND PUBLIC SAFETY
General Luna Road, Baguio City Philippines 2600

Website: www.ubaguio.edu
Telefax No.: (074) 442-3071 E-mail Address: ub@ubaguio.edu

In conclusion, this critic paper is focusing on the final paragraph of the article. The
supposed goal of the article is to emphasize the importance of “wei ji” that means “In a critical
situation, crisis truly holds the opportunity for change”. But, it turns out that said article is
explaining crisis situation, identifying a person in crisis and assessment on the crisis's impact on
the individual. Corollary, such article is very significant issue on how to intervene the Crises in
certain crisis situation.

It actually gives the reader the true picture of a person under stress or an individual
experiencing crisis that resulted to a conceptual crisis intervention. The subject Crisis
intervention and Management are very broad topic but because the authors are explaining on
the psychological equilibrium of a person under stress to include the steps on identification and
assessment of a worker in intervening the actual crisis, then it is easy for us to understand that
there is such thing as identification and assessment on pre-intervention process.

The importance of Crisis Intervention: An Opportunity to Change is generally intended to

educate the reader that certainly crisis results from a person’s negative perception of a situation
and there is psychological impact to the person based on that serious situation. Truly, if you
really know where the crisis situation originated then you knew already how to adjust the
intervention fit for a certain situation because crisis intervention is an emergency first aid and
the fate of the person experiencing crisis rely in the palms of the one who first intervene.

3 | 3 https://www.google.com/search?q=crisis+definition, www.wikipedia.org,http://www.chanrobles.com/guidelinesgoverninglaborelations
http://www.minddisorders.co, www.counseling.org/resources/library, www.likein.com.ph
“The fate of the wounded rests in the hands of the ones who apply the first dressing.” Nicholas, Senn