Breakdowns in civil societies can be catalyzed by factors ranging from war and genocide to natural disaster, disease and economic downturns. Restoring Civil Societies examines social processes related to civic engagement in the wake of these societal ruptures. The authors show how crises in civil society can be both pervasive and localized, broad-based and limited to defined social sub-groups. Whatever their scale, Restoring Civil Societies identifies models that analyze the social psychology of crises in order to devise ways of re-activating civic engagement and safeguarding civil society.Focusing on these positive interventions, the authors identify a number of key strategies, ranging from the simplicity and directness of bystander interventions to the volunteer armies mobilized in the wake of natural disasters. They include collective action organized to redress systemic inequalities, and the vital healing role played by truth commissions in Rwanda and elsewhere. Restoring Civil Societies fills the gap between basic research on social issues and translation into social policies and programs-an area which, in light of current economic and social unrest, is more important now than ever.

Notes on Contributors ixSeries Editor's Preface xix1 Introduction 1Kai J. Jonas and Thomas A. MortonPart I Theoretical Approaches 172 Justice Sensitivity as Resource or Risk Factor in Civic Engagement 19Anna Baumert, Nadine Thomas, and Manfred Schmitt3 Regulating Psychological Threat: The Motivational Consequences of Threatening Contexts 38Bastiaan T. Rutjens, Joop van der Pligt, and Frenk van Harreveld4 Prosocial Behavior in the Context of Crisis 57Kai J. Jonas5 A Social Ecological Perspective on Risk and Resilience for Children and Political Violence: Implications for Restoring Civil Societies 78E. Mark Cummings, Laura K. Taylor, and Christine E. Merrilees6 Everyday Helping and Responses to Crises: A Model for Understanding Volunteerism 98Allen M. Omoto, Mark Snyder, and Justin D. Hackett7 Collective Action as Civic Engagement: Toward an Encompassing Psychological Perspective 119Martijn van Zomeren, Tom Postmes, and Russell Spears8 Intergroup Relations in Post-Conflict Contexts: How the Past Influences the Present (and Future) 135John F. Dovidio, Samuel L. Gaertner, Ruth K. Ditlmann, and Tessa V. West9 Humanizing Others Without Normalizing Harm: The Role of Human Concepts and Categories in Intergroup Reconciliation and Forgiveness 156Thomas A. Morton, Matthew J. Hornsey, and Tom PostmesPart II Application and Intervention 17510 Social Rituals and Collective Expression of Emotion After a Collective Trauma: Participation in Gacaca and Assimilation of the Rwandan Genocide 177Bernard Rimé, Patrick Kanyangara, Dario Paez, and Vincent Yzerbyt11 Competitive Victimhood Among Jewish and Palestinian Israelis Reflects Differential Threats to Their Identities: The Perspective of the Needs-Based Model 192Nurit Shnabel and Masi Noor12 Identity, Conflict, and the Experience of Trauma: The Social Psychology of Intervention and Engagement Following Political Violence 208Orla T. Muldoon and Robert D. Lowe13 Divided by a Common Language? Conceptualizing Identity, Discrimination, and Alienation 222Leda M. Blackwood, Nick Hopkins, and Stephen D. Reicher14 Civil Society Responses to the HIV/AIDS Crisis: The Role of Social Representations in Shaping Collective and Individual Action 237Stefan StEURurmer and Birte Siem15 Opinion-Based Groups and the Restoration of Civil Society 250Craig McGarty, Girish Lala, and Emma Thomas16 Moral Courage Training Programs as a Means of Overcoming Societal Crises 265Veronika BrandstEURatter and Kai J. Jonas17 Media as an Instrument for Reconstructing Communities Following Conflict 284Elizabeth Levy PaluckIndex 299