Cultural Differences and Disasters

Paper Summary:

This paper identifies cultural differences in disaster response and how these differences affect the outcomes of such responses. A background and overview of the topic are followed by an examination of the cultural factors that serve to influence disaster response. An assessment of how these factors play out in terms of disaster preparedness and the propensity of people to live near hazardous areas are followed by a summary of the research in the conclusion.

From the Paper:

"Disaster research is a relatively new area of interest among psychologists and other social scientists (Eranen & Liebkind, 1993). Instead of using well-specified conceptual and methodological approaches, early research on the effects of disaster was generally descriptive in nature (Green, 1982). The more recent trend has been to treat disasters as a social phenomena and to identify the underlying social and psychological aspects (Eranen & Liebkind, 1993). To this end, research over the past several decades has focused on studying the psychological impact of disasters, with particular emphasis on psychopathology. The greatest advances have thus involved identifying the prevalence of psychological symptoms and/or disorders following disaster (Rubonis & Bickman, 1991). According to Sheila Jasanoff (1994), accounts of disasters are usually written in a retrospective mode. "The tragic event becomes the occasion for looking backward to a prior, more fortunate time, when foresight, prudence, good behavior, or divine grace might have unscrolled history toward a happier conclusion" (Jasanoff, 1994, p. 2). Today, disasters that involve technology in particular have tended to assume the form of morality plays about the impact of human endeavors on marginalized peoples. While recent technological and natural disasters have increased public and official consciousness of real and potential hazards and the need to prepare for possible disasters, that attention to disaster preparedness may be fleeting, however, despite the magnitudes of the tragedies. In his essay, "The Problem: Preparing for Uncertain Events", William L. Waugh Jr. paraphrases Joseph Stalin, and suggests that large numbers of deaths are mere statistics; public and media attention seldom lingers when events are distant and the statistics are not easy to translate into human lives. It is also uncertain that the events will stimulate significant and effective policy initiatives. The lessons, then, may be lost? (in Comfort, 1998, p. 111). As a result, in order to develop appropriate policies and procedures that can best serve to mitigate the impact of future disasters, a better understanding of the cultural factors that serve to affect disaster response is required."

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