Reducing the Trauma: Alternative Dispute Resolution in Disaster Relief Efforts

Title: Reducing the Trauma: Alternative Dispute Resolution in Disaster Relief Efforts Despite careful planning and preparation, natural disasters leave behind destruction and trauma in their wake. The Federal Government established the National Response Framework as a resource to help communities prepare for, recover from, and respond to these situations. Conflicts arise as a direct result of disasters as well as an indirect consequence. Using Galveston, TX as a case study because of its repeated experience with recovery from hurricanes, qualitative interviews were conducted to explore what is being done to help with conflicts that cause additional trauma. Alternative dispute resolution skills such as conflict styles, active listening, and reframing and summarizing are explored as a means of reducing the traumas amplified by conflicts that are revealed during a disaster