MILITARY PSYCHOLOGY RESPONSE TO POST-PANDEMIC RECONSTRUCTION (Two Volume Set)

Military response to disasters is increasing exponentially and the global pandemic is no different; prodded by the COVID-19, most militaries the world over go into force protection mode and at the same time, reach out to those in distress as the last resort of government to deal with pandemic. Psychologists play a critical role in facilitating those who have experienced or witnessed a disaster or other personally traumatic events. Given their proximity to frequency of occurrences of such traumatic events, military and police psychologists are in a unique position to study human behaviour under crises situations and recommend best practices and psychological interventions during and after the pandemic currently being experienced the world over. According to researchers, psychologists who respond to human tragedies like the current pandemic must conceptualise post-pandemic interventions, using strategies that take into account individual and group characteristics of the individual/unit/sub unit, intensity, and magnitude of the crises, based on the level of stress/trauma being experienced. This book is written by both military and civilian specialists working in the field of military psychology and/or military leadership; it consists of 41 chapters written by 47 authors from 16 countries. We view this book as a contribution to understanding our field better, promoting communication, and providing references for learning about theories and best practices in other countries towards dealing with the pandemic. The intention of the book is to provoke some thoughts on how military psychology can be applied in not just military contexts but also explore diversity of applications in different realms, when dealing with pandemic in present times as well as during post-pandemic reconstruction from a psycho-logical perspective. Hopefully, this book will be a primer in opening up plethora of research in the immediate future to cater to the fragilities of the human mind in dealing with the pandemic.