The Sociological Impact of Natural Disasters (Test 2)

9/11

4 crashes of huge planes going from NY to LA. Planes were not responding to air traffic control; there were unusual flight patterns, and anomie occurred. Flight 93 (Pennsylvania) overtook the hijackers, but the crew didn’t know how to fly the plane; the plane crashed. Once planes were grounded, there was immense collective grief.

What formed after 9/11

Homeland security, proper surveillance, proper security, TSA, monitoring who we let on planes, government trust was questioned, and ongoing psychological testing was done on victims, families, and bystanders.

Multidisciplinary Study

A community of scholars studies a particular thing. Everyone has a general idea of what the other disciplines do. Do not work together

Anthropologists and their context in natural disasters

They focus on culture and the affects it will have on recovery efforts and how they will be percieved. Focuses on kinship, cultural ties, and identity

Cultural Relativity

Understanding how a community different than yours works

Cultural Sensitivity

The awareness, understanding, and respectful acceptance of the values, norms, beliefs, and practices of cultures different from one’s own, combined with the willingness to adapt one’s behavior to foster respectful and effective interactions. Suggests that the meanings of disasters are socially and culturally constructed.

Geographers and their context in natural disasters

First in natural disaster research, Focus on where and how close people live to a disaster-prone area. Large focus on zoning

Economists and their context in natural disasters

Suggest that people and businesses do what they think will benefit them more after a natural disaster. They calculate costs and compare prices. Focus on individual perception and decision-making. (Economic loss estimate →Economy research→ Estimate loss of event that has not occurred→ Estimate economic pros and cons of disaster reduction programs. Rich area- Economic loss. Poor country- human loss.

Psychologists and their context in natural disasters

Focus on individual perception and decision-making

Heuristics and their impact on natural disasters

Kahneman and Tversky, 1972-4. Cognitive shortcuts (A quick rule of thumb that can cause distortion) (Ex. , a plane crash = never flying again)

Myopia

Someone prefers to look only in the short term, instead of the long term

Political science and public administration and their impact on natural disasters

Reactionary policy development, agenda, policy learning, after a natural disaster. Look at the scope of disasters, mitigation that can be applied (sometimes for overlapping disasters), and advocate for policies and laws to be altered. (Is this change actually happening, or are we being performative for the media?)

What’s important in risk communication?

Trust

Example of when misinformation and disinformation got spread and trust was skewed

Covid -19

Urban planning in the context of natural disasters

Focuses on recovery efforts and mitigation. Urban planners actually don’t have a huge say in what goes on. Poorer communities are unfortunately near more hazardous areas.

Status quo bias

the cognitive tendency to prefer the current state of affairs and avoid change, even when better alternatives exist

Optimistic bias

a cognitive bias where people overestimate the likelihood of positive events and underestimate the likelihood of negative ones

Myopic bias

the tendency to prioritize short-term gains over long-term outcomes, often leading to suboptimal decisions

Voluntary risk

a risk that an individual consciously accepts in order to gain the benefits of an activity that carries potential harm

Imposed risk

situations where one person’s actions subject others to potential harm, usually in children

Common risk

Regular risk

Exotic risk

Rare risk

Familiar risk

Normal risk (Hurricane in Florida)

Unfamiliar risk

Uncommon risk (Hurricane in Western NC)

Who is least likely to trust?

Conservatives, Americans of color, Southerners, religious, uneducated

Crisis informatics

Emerging fields in social, computer, and information sciences all come together and respond to global needs

Indirect cost- Ripple effect (Economics)

Due to a natural disaster, another area is the economic and social losses that occur after the physical event, caused by disruptions to supply chains, business operations, and daily life, rather than the immediate destruction of assets (Hurricane in Ohio→ no IV bags being available to rest of the country)

Direct cost

the immediate, quantifiable economic losses from physical damage to people, buildings, infrastructure, and natural resources caused by the disaster itself

Do most businesses recover after a natural disaster?

Yes!

Waffle House Index

informal FEMA-used metric that gauges storm severity based on whether Waffle House restaurants are open, offering a limited menu, or closed, corresponding to green, yellow, and red levels

What’s the first thing Waffle House asks its employees?

“Are you okay?”

Businesses that are least likely to survive a natural disaster

Small-businesses, women-owned businesses, black-owned businesses, and veteran-owned businessesSmall businesses

Research Center Model

Describes how a research center is organized, funded, and operated to achieve its mission, with successful models combining interdisciplinary collaboration, clear value propositions, and sustainable revenue streams

Interdisciplinary

Come together to research

Ad hoc model

Call for research from the government, multidisciplinary, and international

Expertise Matching

Small-level studies. Work together

Emergent Norm Theory

How new experiences create new norms. Answers the question, “What are the tasks that have to be done?”

Research Center Model

Decide to hire people of different disciplines, interdisciplinary, and apply for $ to research, long-term, but personal

Expertise Matching

Those working together have a big interest in this, small-level, work together in a sustained partnership

Latent knowledge

Volunteering old skills (Ex. ;”I used to be a doctor”)

New (Post-disaster) response

Task emergence (Ex. ;'“I’m a doctor”)

Intersitial

An overlap in social realms that are social and long-term (Ex.; “I have connections”)

Emergence

People come together, some who go without, satisfy their own needs

Who can help in a natural disaster?

People with shared values, faith-based organizations, and those you have pre-existing ties with

Characteristics of Data

Multi-Dimensional: Physical, dimensional, social, economic, and behavioral

Multisector: Public, private, nonprofit

Multiscale: Large→ Small

Mix Type: Methodology

Triangulation: Multi-method

EMON’s

Emergent multi-organizational, network

Communication helps us to…

Have a shared understanding of what happens in a situation

Technology’s impact on natural disasters

Helps us to communicate faster, but it does create more misinformation and drama than needed

Milling

When people perceive something as a threat and try to get as much information as possible

Types of media

Interpersonal networks, conventional media, and social media

After you get your information, what do you decide next?

Do you understand the message?

Do you believe the message?

Are you at risk?

An organization has more risk if it’s…

centralized in one location

Who studies tornados?

Psychologists, meteorologists, and earth scientists

EF Scale

Shows the magnitude of tornadoes. (Most are level 3)

EF 1

Rips shingles off roofs

EF 5

Rips houses out of the ground

Supercell

Storms have rotating winds that have the potential to make a tornado

Disaster

= The loss of human life, community, things of value, disruption of social fabric (relocation)

Exposure to natural disasters

Location, built-in vulnerability, impact of overuse of infrastructure

Intersectional Approach to vulnerability

1989- Kimberly Crenshaw- How we have different roles at different hierarchies at different times. Occupies different characteristics and applies multiple at one time

Interconnected Difference

1990- Loden and Rosner- Diversity, personal differences in people

When did women get the right to vote?

1919

Critical Race Theory

Social structures are arranged so that not everyone gets equal access (Because poverty leads to the inability to do things, it’s harder for the poor to do)

Cumulative Vulnerability

The amplified harm a system, community, or individual experiences when multiple stressors interact and accumulate over time, increasing overall susceptibility to damage.

Why are children vulnerable?

Permanent temporariness (Series of different homes), dependent on caregivers (Upset with care providers), loss of care providers, different stages of development, not enough services for kids, loss creates turmoil amongst families, disrupted routines

Informal networking

I know a guy

Formal networking

Doing a task the usual way you are intended to

Social capital needs…

Human interaction, relationships, positive products of human interaction, shared values (commonly used to describe social responsibility)

Bonding

Social capital created within a group with shared goals (In natural disasters, people come together)

Bridging

Creation of social capital across groups when two groups come together successfully (In natural disasters organizations bring aid)

Linking

Ties across groups- More social mobility, higher organizations that can help(In a natural disaster, communities might contact state representatives

Benefits of social capital

More social capital→ reports happier, healthier, more trust, creates mutual trust, bonds, etc.

Social capital can be thought of…

potential to get resources, favors, information

Reciprocity

I give to you, you give to me

Altruism

I give to you

Downsides to social capital

Possibility of discrimination and NIMBY

Bordieu

1986- Social capital, economic capital, cultural capital, symbolic capital 9what you represent represents your position in a situation. Achievement over actual person)