Building Community Resilience: What Can the United States Learn From Experiences in Other Countries?

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 292-301 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melinda Moore ◽  
Anita Chandra ◽  
Kevin C. Feeney
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Disaster Management ◽  
Community Education ◽  
Community Resilience ◽  
The United States ◽  
Economic Security ◽  
Community Empowerment ◽  
Exemplary Practices ◽  
Five Elements

AbstractObjectivesCommunity resilience (CR) is emerging as a major public policy priority within disaster management and is one of two key pillars of the December 2009 US National Health Security Strategy. However, there is no clear agreement on what key elements constitute CR. We examined exemplary practices from international disaster management to validate the elements of CR, as suggested by Homeland Security Presidential Directive 21 (HSPD-21), to potentially identify new elements and to identify practices that could be emulated or adapted to help build CR.MethodsWe extracted detailed information relevant to CR from unpublished case studies we had developed previously, describing exemplary practices from international natural disasters occurring between 1985 and 2005. We then mapped specific practices against the five elements of CR suggested by HSPD-21.ResultsWe identified 49 relevant exemplary practices from 11 natural disasters in 10 countries (earthquakes in Mexico, India, and Iran; volcanic eruption in Philippines; hurricanes in Honduras and Cuba; floods in Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Mozambique; tsunami in Indian Ocean countries; and typhoon in Vietnam). Of these, 35 mapped well against the five elements of CR: community education, community empowerment, practice, social networks, and familiarity with local services; 15 additional practices were related to physical security and economic security. The five HSPD-21 CR elements and two additional ones we identified were closely related to one another; social networks were especially important to CR.ConclusionsWhile each disaster is unique, the elements of CR appear to be broadly applicable across countries and disaster settings. Our descriptive study provides retrospective empirical evidence that helps validate, and adds to, the elements of CR suggested by HSPD-21. It also generates hypotheses about factors contributing to CR that can be tested in future analytic or experimental research. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2013;7:292-301)

Greenness and the Potential Resilience to Sexual Violence: “Your Neighborhood Is Being Neglected Because People Don’t Care. People With Power Don’t Care”

2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052110280
Author(s):  
Gibran C. Mancus ◽  
Andrea N. Cimino ◽  
Md Zabir Hasan ◽  
Jacquelyn C. Campbell ◽  
Phyllis Sharps ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Analysis ◽  
Violent Crime ◽  
Green Space ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Community Resilience ◽  
The United States ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Traffic Density ◽  
Black Communities ◽  
Black Neighborhoods

There is increasing evidence that green space in communities reduces the risk of aggression and violence, and increases wellbeing. Positive associations between green space and resilience have been found among children, older adults and university students in the United States, China and Bulgaria. Little is known about these associations among predominately Black communities with structural disadvantage. This study explored the potential community resilience in predominately Black neighborhoods with elevated violent crime and different amounts of green space. This embedded mixed-methods study started with quantitative analysis of women who self-identified as “Black and/or African American.” We found inequality in environments, including the amount of green space, traffic density, vacant property, and violent crime. This led to 10 indepth interviews representing communities with elevated crime and different amounts of green space. Emergent coding of the first 3 interviews, a subset of the 98 in the quantitative analysis, led to a priori coding of barriers and facilitators to potential green space supported community resilience applied to the final 7 interview data. Barriers were a combination of the physical and social environment, including traffic patterns, vacant property, and crime. Facilitators included subjective qualities of green space. Green spaces drew people in through community building and promoting feelings of calmness. The transformation of vacant lots into green spaces by community members affords space for people to come together and build community. Green spaces, a modifiable factor, may serve to increase community resilience and decrease the risk of violence.

The Role of For-Profit Firms in Disaster Management: A Typology

2021 ◽  
pp. 027614672110201
Author(s):  
Swapan Deep Arora ◽  
Anirban Chakraborty
Keyword(s):  
Disaster Management ◽  
Community Resilience ◽  
Sustained Development ◽  
For Profit ◽  
State Initiative ◽  
Marketing Orientation ◽  
Disaster Studies ◽  
Building Community ◽  
Multiple Levels

Contemporary existence presents a duality of sustained development and recurrent disasters. Whereas disaster studies have closely examined public policy and state initiative, the role of for-profits is under-explored. Stakeholder theory and its integration with marketing orientation provide a theoretical underpinning for understanding the behavior of firms across contingencies, including disasters. Accordingly, we traverse the range of actions that these market entities exhibit in aiding disaster management and develop a comprehensive typology. The current COVID-19 pandemic provides a context for illustrating the practical exemplar actions as mapped to the proposed typology. We add to theory by examining the role of marketing philosophy and for-profits in tackling disasters at multiple levels: from micro-aspects of maintaining relations with specific stakeholders to the macro-objective of building community resilience. Further, the proposed typology helps practice and research by highlighting the range of firms' responses contributing to disaster management and building community resilience.

scholarly journals Return Migration after Natural Disasters

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikiyasu Nakayama ◽  
Nicholas Nicholas Bryner ◽  
Satoru Mimura
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Hurricane Katrina ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Return Migration ◽  
The United States ◽  
Hurricane Sandy ◽  
Indian Ocean Tsunami ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Post Disaster

This special issue features policy priorities, public perceptions, and policy options for addressing post-disaster return migration in the United States, Japan, and a couple of Asian countries. It includes a series of case studies in these countries, which are based on a sustained dialogue among scholars and policymakers about whether and how to incentivize the return of displaced persons, considering social, economic, and environmental concerns. The research team, composed of researchers from Indonesia, Japan, Sri Lanka, and the United States, undertook a collaborative and interdisciplinary research process to improve understanding about how to respond to the needs of those displaced by natural disasters and to develop policy approaches for addressing post-disaster return. The research focused on the following three key issues: objectives of return migration (whether to return, in what configuration, etc.), priorities and perceptions that influence evacuees’ decision-making regarding return, and policies and practices that are used to pursue return objectives. This special issue includes ten articles on the following disaster cases: the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and Hurricane Sandy in 2012, the Great Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004, and the Great Sumatra Island Earthquake in 2009. Important lessons for the future were secured out of these case studies, covering the entire phase of return, namely planning, implementation, and monitoring.

scholarly journals Hard Times: Routine Schedule Unpredictability and Material Hardship among Service Sector Workers

Social Forces ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Schneider ◽  
Kristen Harknett
Keyword(s):  
Service Sector ◽  
Food Service ◽  
The United States ◽  
Economic Security ◽  
Work Schedules ◽  
Material Hardship ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Hard Times ◽  
Advance Notice ◽  
Food Service Workers

Abstract American policymakers have long focused on work as a key means to improve economic wellbeing. Yet, work has become increasingly precarious and polarized. This precarity is manifest in low wages but also in unstable and unpredictable work schedules that often vary significantly week to week with little advance notice. We draw on new survey data from The Shift Project on 37,263 hourly retail and food service workers in the United States. We assess the association between routine unpredictability in work schedules and household material hardship. Using both cross-sectional models and panel models, we find that workers who receive shorter advanced notice, those who work on-call, those who experience last minute shift cancellation and timing changes, and those with more volatile work hours are more likely to experience hunger, residential, medical, and utility hardships as well as more overall hardship. Just-in-time work schedules afford employers a great deal of flexibility but at a heavy cost to workers’ economic security.

The Influence of Social Networks and Supports on Depression Symptoms: Differential Pathways for Older Korean Immigrants and Non-Hispanic White Americans

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haesang Jeon ◽  
James Lubben
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Social Networks ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
The United States ◽  
Korean Immigrants ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Depression Symptoms ◽  
Older Korean Immigrants ◽  
Hispanic White

Objectives: The current cross-cultural study examines the pathways underlying different formations of social networks and social support systems, which affect depression symptoms among older Korean immigrants and non-Hispanic Whites in the United States.Method: Data for this study came from a panel survey of 223 older Korean American immigrants and 201 non-Hispanic White older adults 65 years of age and older living in Los Angeles. Structural equation modeling (SEM) is used to test the proposed conceptual model designed to explain the direct and indirect relationships between social networks and social support on depression symptoms.Results: Empirical evidence from this study indicated different effect of one’s social networks and social support on depression by race/ethnicity.Discussion: The work discussed in this article pointed to the need to recognize the role of culture in assessing the relationships between social networks, social support, and health among older adults.

scholarly journals Assessment of Impacts of Hurricane Katrina on Net Primary Productivity in Mississippi

2010 ◽  
Vol 14 (14) ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shrinidhi Ambinakudige ◽  
Sami Khanal
Keyword(s):  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Hurricane Katrina ◽  
Primary Productivity ◽  
Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Net Primary Productivity ◽  
Gulf Coast ◽  
Carbon Sink ◽  
Anthropogenic Activities ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
The United States

Abstract Southern forests contribute significantly to the carbon sink for the atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) associated with the anthropogenic activities in the United States. Natural disasters like hurricanes are constantly threatening these forests. Hurricane winds can have a destructive impact on natural vegetation and can adversely impact net primary productivity (NPP). Hurricane Katrina (23–30 August 2005), one of the most destructive natural disasters in history, has affected the ecological balance of the Gulf Coast. This study analyzed the impacts of different categories of sustained winds of Hurricane Katrina on NPP in Mississippi. The study used the Carnegie–Ames–Stanford Approach (CASA) model to estimate NPP by using remote sensing data. The results indicated that NPP decreased by 14% in the areas hard hit by category 3 winds and by 1% in the areas hit by category 2 winds. However, there was an overall increase in NPP, from 2005 to 2006 by 0.60 Tg of carbon, in Mississippi. The authors found that Pearl River, Stone, Hancock, Jackson, and Harrison counties in Mississippi faced significant depletion of NPP because of Hurricane Katrina.

scholarly journals Nonprofits and the Promotion of Civic Engagement: A Conceptual Framework for Understanding the "Civic Footprint" of Nonprofits within Local Communities

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Micheal L. Shier ◽  
Lindsey McDougle ◽  
Femida Handy
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Nonprofit Organizations ◽  
Rural Community ◽  
Community Education ◽  
The United States ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Education And Awareness

ABSTRACT   The literature suggests that nonprofit organizations provide civic benefits by promoting engagement within local communities. However, there exists minimal empirical evidence describing the ways in which nonprofits actually undertake this role. In order to address this omission, we conducted interviews with personnel of nonprofit organizations in one rural community in the United States. Our preliminary findings indicate that nonprofit organizations promote civic engagement through programs and activities that: 1) engage volunteers and donors; 2) bring community members together; 3) collaborate with organizations within and beyond the community; and 4) promote community education and awareness. Together, these findings help to develop a working model to understand the civic footprint of nonprofit organizations with methodological implications for future research that would seek to measure the extent to which nonprofits promote civic engagement. Il est normal de supposer que les associations à but non lucratif favorisent l’engagement du citoyen dans les communautés locales. Cependant, il existe peu de données empiriques sur la manière dont ces associations assument véritablement ce rôle. Pour combler ce manque, nous avons mené des entretiens semi-directifs approfondis auprès du personnel d’associations à but non lucratif dans une petite communauté rurale aux États-Unis. Nos résultats préliminaires indiquent que ces associations motivent les citoyens à s’impliquer quand elles offrent des programmes et des activités qui : 1) intéressent les bénévoles et les donateurs; 2) rassemblent directement ou indirectement les membres de la communauté; 3) collaborent avec d’autres associations tant au sein de la communauté qu’au-delà de celle-ci; et 4) encouragent l’éducation et la conscientisation communautaires. Ces constats aident à établir un modèle pour mieux comprendre la présence civique des associations à but non lucratif dans les communautés et indiquent une piste à suivre pour des recherches futures qui examineraient l’influence de ces associations sur le niveau de participation civique.

Disaster Preparedness

1985 ◽  
Vol 1 (S1) ◽  
pp. 118-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. L. Quarantelli
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Emergency Medical Service ◽  
Disaster Preparedness ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Medical Service ◽  
The United States ◽  
Mass Casualties ◽  
Disaster Plan ◽  
Emergency Medical

The 1973 Emergency Medical Services System Act in the United States mandates that one of the 15 functions to be performed by every EMS system is coordinated disaster planning. Implicit in the legislation is the assumption that everyday emergency medical service (EMS) systems will be the basis for the provisions of EMS in extraordinary mass emergencies, or in the language of the act, during “mass casualties, natural disasters or national emergencies.” Policy interpretations of the Act specified that the EMS system must have links to local, regional and state disaster plans and must participate in biannual disaster plan exercises. Thus, the newly established EMS systems have been faced with both planning for, as well as providing services in large-scale disasters.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document