Weller, Jack M.2005-05-112005-05-111974http://udspace.udel.edu/handle/19716/1262Community crises are major emergency situations for which routine social structures are inadequate. Crises make preservation of valued items and behavior patterns so precarious that extraordinary social arrangements are deemed necessary to cope with them. Some crises overtake a community gradually, so that with foresight social structures can be gradually modified to ameliorate their effects. Pollution and other forms of environmental decay present this possibility for gradual, if far-reaching adjustments. Natural disasters and civil disturbances are different. They are crises which overtake a community with little forewarning. Their suddenness and intensity demand extraordinary social adjustments to shield communities from their consequences. They require immediate response to their unscheduled appearances.8019546 bytesapplication/pdfen-USOrganizational InnovationCrisisPatternsOther