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 Homeland
Security 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 Phase
Looting 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
Biography
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.
