Personal and Community Crises in Rural Areas and their Effect on a Sense of Community and Community Resilience

Communities often experience crises that challenge everyone involved in building and promoting the community. These crises affect the residents’ sense of community and perception of the community’s well-being. This article presents a quantitative study conducted in rural communities, situated far from large cities, and examines the effect of experiencing personal and community-wide crises on residents’ sense of community and their assessment of personal and community well-being. Questionnaires were completed by 364 members of rural communities. Results show that experiencing a community-wide crisis contributed to the sense of community and to reported community well-being, as expressed in involvement in community activity and a sense of community preparedness and efficacy in emergency situations. In contrast, experiencing personal crisis did not contribute to a sense of community and negatively affected the individual’s community resilience assessment. We propose explanations for the results, originating in the change processes undergone by these communities in recent years, and offer recommendations that differentiate between instrumental and emotional responses in the daily life of the community.