Disasters: Organizational and Community Responses
Uploaded by
drhgriffiths03Disasters: Organizational and Community Responses
Uploaded by
drhgriffiths03Chapter Eleven
Organizations, Communities, and
Societies in Disasters
Imaginations is the one weapon in
the war against reality
-de Gaultier
Wenger, Levels of Analysis
1. Interpersonal response
• Discussed in Chapter 10
2. Organizational Response and
3. Community Response
• Some events that are a crisis at the level of
interpersonal response are merely a
emergency at these levels.
4. Societal Response
• It rare that a disaster event is a crisis at the
societal level in USA, more common under
extreme conditions abroad.
Organizations, Johnstown Flood
(1977)
• Considered to be a once in a thousand
years event.
• Six dams topped or burst, 73 dead, 1000
homes damaged/destroyed, $250 million.
• When outsiders arrive to assist, they find
residents already engaged in recovery.
• Cleanup was ongoing issue, volunteers
plentiful in aiding victims.
• Emergency at the organizational level.
Communities, Flight 152 (1954)
• Flight crashes near a farm, flight attendant
goes for help.
• It is farmers in the community who begin
rescue operations, accessing interior of
wreckage and providing basic first aid.
• Farmers also provide base of operations
for investigating team.
• According to Wenger, this is an
emergency at the community level.
Societies, Midwest Flood (1993)
• Nine state flooded following periods of soil
saturation and heavy rain.
• 50,000 homes damaged or destroyed,
54,000 people displaced, 75 towns
underwater, $15 billion damages, 50 dead.
• This is as close to a crisis as a defined by
Wenger, that America has experienced.
Organizational response to
Disaster
• Following disaster events, people choose
which obligations to fulfill—either to family
or to organizations.
– Will police protect and serve or return home to
check on family?
• Most members of official organizations
receive training that emphasizes job
priority during disasters, a provide disaster
plans for family members.
Continued
• However, ordinary workers seldom receive
this kind of training and may fail to follow
safety protocols when they leave to look
after friends and family.
• Imagine a worker at a nuclear power
facility hears that his family was affected
by a tornado—is he going to follow
procedure or is he going to look for his
family?
Organizational Response
(Dynes Typology, 1970)
Focused on tasks and organizational
structure.
1. Established Organizations
• Perform familiar tasks with established
structure (police)
2. Expanding Organizations
• Expand membership and scale of operations
(Red Cross, local hospitals)
Continued
3. Extending Organizations
• Extend scope of operations while retaining
predisaster structure (Construction
companies)
4. Emergent Organizations
• Built around preexisting work or
neighborhood groups in response to disaster
event (local search and rescue).
Interorganizational response to
disaster
1. Communication
2. Recovery
• Organizations must coordinate efforts,
create priorities, establish procedures.
3. Scarcity
• As supplies run out, previous contacts are
tapped first, then new contacts are
attempted.
4. Excess resources
• Donated goods are more heartfelt than
thoughtful. Send Money.
Means of Interorganizational
Response
1. Prior Planning
• Supported through FEMA
2. Emergency Domain
• Some organizations are understood to be “in
charge”
3. Supplier-Client Relationship
• Network of associations facilitate supplying
4. Personal Contact
• Boundary roles form inter-or networks.
Community Functions
Wenger identifies five basic
community functions and four
elements of community structure
that may be disrupted during
disaster events.
Continued
1. Production, Distribution, Consumption
• Re-opening factories and stores=normal
2. Socialization
• Schools and churches co-opted as shelter
3. Participation—changes form
4. Social Control—officials take charge
5. Mutual Support—increased reliance on
community members for support.
Community Structure during
Disaster
1. Cultural Values/Beliefs
– Focuses people on community instead
of individual.
2. Normative Structure
– Usually deviant, now normal.
3. Organizational Structure
– Number of contacts increase
4. Power Relationships
– Pluralist replaced by centralized power,
emergent leaders.
Dynes’ Typology of societies in
disaster
• Type I
– Small populations, food gathering
– Disasters can destroy society
• Type II
– Larger population, farming
– Disaster produces moderate change and
disruption.
• Type III
– Large populations, complex social structures
– Disasters cause little disruption, social change
Overview, Industrial Societies
• Non-governmental organizations and
official organizations work together to
minimize social disruption caused by
disaster agents.
• FEMA (1979) useful response
organization, but often problematic in
terms of budget and mandate.
• Industrialization and increase in population
creates a population at risk from disaster
agents.
Continued
• For example, San Francisco is built on a
fault zone, FL’s (Hurricane) population is
increasing.
• The National Flood Insurance program is
one way of reducing losses to these
vulnerable populations, by refusing to
insure people who live in high hazard
areas.
Continued
Human populations are increasingly at risk
from man-made disasters as well.
•BP Deep Water Horizon blowout
•Love Canal (1980) was destroyed by a haz-
mat dump, and its inhabitants were not
treated well by the responsible corporation—
they are not receiving large tax breaks or
government aid, even though, by Wenger’s
definition, they experience was a “crisis” at
the interpersonal level.
Continued
• What happened at Love Canal reflects a
growing problem in industrial societies,
that of disposing of waste safely.
• It is also a warning of what may happen on
a large scale to human population
exposed to air and water pollution.
Common questions
Powered by AIIndustrialization heightens risks by increasing population densities, leading to more individuals living in hazard-prone areas, and infrastructure vulnerabilities, e.g., San Francisco's fault lines or Florida's hurricanes. Man-made risks arise from industrial incidents like the BP Deepwater Horizon spill or hazardous waste issues exemplified by Love Canal. Preventive measures include non-governmental and official organization collaboration, FEMA's oversight and planning efforts, and the National Flood Insurance program that targets at-risk populations by denying coverage in high-hazard zones, discouraging risky habitation .
Wenger's typology classifies organizational responses into four categories based on task focus and structure: Established Organizations carry out familiar tasks within a known setup, such as police services; Expanding Organizations increase in scale and complexity during disasters, exemplified by the Red Cross; Extending Organizations adapt their operations while maintaining pre-disaster structures, as seen in some construction companies; and Emergent Organizations arise in response to disaster needs, often forming from existing community groups .
The Johnstown Flood and Midwest Flood illustrate differences in scale and organizational response complexity. The Johnstown Flood, deemed an emergency at the organizational level, saw prompt local response with substantial volunteer involvement for cleanup, reflecting a coordinated community and organizational effort . In contrast, the Midwest Flood approached crisis levels, impacting multiple states and necessitating more extensive interorganizational coordination, highlighting communication challenges, resource scarcity, and the necessity for federal response mechanisms like FEMA . This comparison underscores the adaptability and scope of organizational responses needed relative to disaster scale and impact.
Key challenges in interorganizational disaster responses include scarcity and excess resources. Scarcity necessitates strategic communication and prioritization, often requiring organizations to rely on existing contacts before establishing new ones. Excess resources, such as unsolicited goods, create logistical burdens and highlight the importance of cash donations. Solutions involve prior planning supported by FEMA, clear domain definitions for responsible organizations, supplier-client relationships for streamline supply, and personal contact networks for efficient collaboration .
Dynes' typology outlines how disasters impact societal structures based on population characteristics. Type I societies, with small populations reliant on food gathering, can face existential threats to their societal continuity. Type II societies with larger, agrarian bases experience moderate disruptions and changes. Type III societies, characterized by large populations and complex structures, endure minimal disruption, with affected infrastructures typically well-equipped to manage and recover from disasters swiftly .
Balancing immediate relief with long-term recovery involves moral dilemmas like prioritizing resources and needs. Addressing scarcity entails directing limited supplies to the most critical areas, while managing excess resources requires converting heartfelt donations into practical support, favoring monetary contributions over goods . Logistical challenges include coordinating diverse organizational efforts and maintaining donor trust by transparently utilizing resources. The urgency of immediate relief may conflict with strategic long-term recovery planning, necessitating a balance through thorough prior planning and community engagement .
Wenger categorizes disasters based on the impact level: interpersonal response, organizational response, community response, and societal response. At the interpersonal level, a crisis affects individuals and personal relationships, whereas at the organizational level, it impacts formal institutions and their operations, often involving decisions between personal and professional obligations . Community response involves collective efforts and local resource mobilization, as seen in Flight 152 where local farmers initiated rescue operations . Societal response, relatively rare in the USA, is observed under extreme conditions where the impacts transcend local and institutional boundaries, affecting societal functions at large .
Interpersonal responsibilities, such as family obligations, often conflict with organizational duties during disasters, creating moral and operational dilemmas. For instance, professionals like police may need to choose between continuing their duties or attending to their families' safety. Resolution often involves disaster-specific training emphasizing professional responsibilities and providing family disaster plans to mitigate personal conflicts. However, ordinary workers may lack such training, increasing the likelihood of prioritizing personal over organizational duties during disasters .
Community functions are crucial in disaster recovery, facilitating both immediate response and long-term rebuilding. Functions such as production, distribution, consumption, and mutual support are often disrupted, with factories and stores needing to resume operations to signify normalization. Socialization and participation may shift as schools and churches serve as shelters, while mutual support and social control see increased reliance on community members and centralized leadership respectively . Complex changes in these functions ensure coordinated efforts and resilience in recovery phases.
Wenger identifies four key elements of community structure that can be disrupted during disasters: cultural values and beliefs, which typically emphasize community over individual needs; the normative structure, where previously deviant or unusual behaviors become normalized; organizational structure, marked by increased contacts and collaborations; and power relationships, where centralized power may emerge temporarily, replacing usual pluralist dynamics .