The Human Side of Disaster

Since the first edition of The Human Side of Disaster was published in 2009, new catastrophes have plagued the globe, including earthquakes in Haiti and New Zealand, tornadoes in Alabama and Missouri, floods in numerous locations, Hurricane Sandy, and the infamous BP oil spill. Enhanced with new cases and real-world examples, The Human Side of Disaster, Second Edition presents an updated summary of the social science knowledge base of human responses to disaster. Dr. Drabek draws upon his 40-plus years of conducting research on individual, group, and organizational responses to disaster to illustrate and integrate key insights from the social sciences to teach us how to anticipate human behaviors in crisis. The book begins with a series of original short stories rooted within actual disaster events. These stories are woven into the entire text to demonstrate essential findings from the research literature. Dr. Drabek provides an overview of the range of disasters and hazards confronting the public and an explanation of why these are increasing each year, both in number and scope of impact. The core of the book is a summary of key findings regarding disaster warning responses, evacuation behavior, initial post-impact survival behavior, traditional and emergent roles of volunteers, and both short-term and longer-term disaster impacts. The theme of "organized-disorganization" is used to illustrate multiorganizational response networks that form the key managerial task for local emergency managers. The final chapter provides a new vision for the emergency management profession—one that reflects a more strategic approach wherein disasters are viewed as non-routine social problems. This book will continue to be an invaluable reference for professionals and students in emergency management and public policy and aid organizations who need to understand human behavior and how best to communicate and work with the public in disaster situations.

Experiences The Taxi The Setting The Story The Earring The Setting The Story The Honeymoon The Setting The Story The Ceiling The Setting The Story The Regulation The Setting The Story The Exercise The Setting The Story The Insights The Problem and Approach The Danger around You Is Increasing Population Movement Climate Change Potentials for Catastrophe The Many Faces of Disaster Natural Disasters Technological Disasters Conflict Disasters The Approach The Insights Hear That Siren? Who Panics and Why Neutralizing Threat Information Doing It Right But Not Everyone Responds the Same Females Children Ethnic Minorities Elderly Experience Economics Message Characteristics Group Context The Insights It Can’t Be Done That Lady Named Carla A Disaster Subculture? The Mythology of Car Wrecks "Resisters? We Will Arrest Them!" Confirmation: A Likely Action Appeal to Authority Appeal to Peer Observational Confirmation Latent Confirmation Families Are the Units The Insights Shall We Leave? Pathways to Evacuation Evacuation by Default Evacuation by Invitation Evacuation by Compromise Evacuation by Decision Where Do They Go? "We Wanna Go Home" Evacuation Facilitators Encourage Family Planning for an Evacuation Media Consistency Forceful, but Not Mandatory Allay Looting Fears Facilitate Transportation Establish Family Message Centers An Aside: Crisis Relocation Planning and HomelandSecurity Advisory System Crisis Relocation Planning Homeland Security Advisory System The Insights Why Me? Victim Responses The Disaster Syndrome: Another Myth Exploded Heroes: They Are for Real Helpers: How Many Are There? "Where Is My Daughter?" But There Are Constraints The Age of Litigation Expanding Poverty Bureaucratic Mindsets The Insights Volunteers? You Bet! The Flood Breakers Are Volunteers Like Yachts? The Utopian Mood Unveiling the Many Forms of Volunteerism The Insights Organized Disorganization Raining in Indianapolis "But We Deal with Emergencies Daily" Indianapolis Coliseum Explosion, October 31, 1963 Wichita Falls, Texas, Tornado, April 10, 1979 Mount St. Helens Eruption, May 18, 1980 Sorting Out Organizational Responders Is Communication the Problem? Lake Pomona SAR Response, June 17, 1978 Social Map: Lake Pomona Communication Structure Cooperation Is Not Enough Issue: Focused Public Information Plan The Insights Life in a Fishbowl The Bitch PhaseLooting Fears Bad Dreams Seeking Closure Short-Term Oscillations Windows of Opportunity "When Can We Go Home?" The Insights What about My Psyche? An Atypical Example Modal Patterns Patterned Variations Kinfolk and Friends "This Is My Mother" The Insights What Must Be Done? Variable Perceptions of Risk Reducing Vulnerabilities Spread the Risk Creating a Culture of Preparedness Disasters Are Nonroutine Social Problems The Insights Community Change Agents Empirical Studies Professionalism in Emergency Management An Expanded Vision Strategies for Maintaining Organizational Integrity Mitigation Strategies Preparedness Strategies Disaster Response Coordination Strategies Core Strategies Consequence Strategies Customer Strategies Control Strategies Cultural Strategies Concluding Principles Notes Suggested Readings Index

Thomas E. Drabek is an emeritus professor of sociology and criminology at the University of Denver and continues his research on a part-time basis. His research has examined group and organizational responses to large-scale disasters. Professor Drabek has authored or coauthored over 100 book chapters and journal articles and 28 books. He served as the co-editor of the International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters and was elected president of the International Sociological Association’s Research Committee on Disasters. He prepared four instructor guides for the Emergency Management Institute. In August 2007, Dr. Drabek was the third recipient of the E. L. Quarantelli Award for contributions to social science disaster theory by the International Research Committee on Disasters, and in June 2008, he received the first Dr. B. Wayne Blanchard Award for Academic Excellence in Emergency Management Higher Education. He frequently lectures at academic and emergency management workshops and conventions throughout the United States and around the world.