| Review of: | Facing the Unexpected: Disaster Preparedness and Response in the United States by Kathleen J. Thierney, Michael K. Lindell, Ronald W. Perry |
|---|---|
| Reviewed By: | Bruna de Marchi |
| Reviewed in: | Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management |
| Date accepted online: | 27/07/2004 |
| Published in print: | Volume 12, Issue 2, Pages 89-96 |
Book Reviews
This book is online available at: http://www.nap.edu/books/0309069998/html/
The book was written as part of the second national assessment of natural hazards research, a five-year project directed by Dennis S. Mileti, funded by the National Science Foundation and supported by several other US agencies and services. The project was conceived as a follow-up to the first assessment, undertaken under the guidance of Gilbert White over 25 years ago, and consists of 'a systematic survey of what is currently known and what still remains to be learned on disaster-related topics' (p. V).
The volume consists of seven chapters, presented in a well-organized sequence covering all aspects of disaster behavior. At the same time, each chapter is self-contained, so that the reader with a specific interest can profit also from a selective reading.
The opening chapter reviews the different approaches to defining and studying disasters, from the classic to the emerging ones, which are summarized and grouped under some debatable, but still useful headings. Although its purpose seems ambitious, the chapter succeeds in providing an informative and thoughtful overview of the debate among different theoretical perspectives, including the un-resolved disagreement over the definition of "what is a disaster?" (Quarantelli, 1998). Also, it incorporates references to authors outside the restricted field of "sociology of disasters" and outside the U.S. This is particularly appreciable in a book focusing on the U.S. (as announced in its subtitle) and does away with a somewhat parochial outlook encountered in works in the same tradition. Unfortunately, the inclusion of ideas developed elsewhere is not pursued to a great extent in the following chapters.
Chapter two, three, and four are devoted to the review of the literature on preparedness and response, which disaster researchers have traditionally dealt with separately. More specifically, chapter two focuses on research on disaster preparedness at different levels: household, organizational, inter-organizational, state and national. Chapter three and four deal with disaster response, the former concentrating on individuals, households and specific groups, the latter on organizations and government.
Chapter five draws on the previous ones, attempting to single out the social factors and societal characteristics that affect both preparedness activities and post-disaster response. These include factors associated with the extent and quality of preparedness and response activities, such as risk perception, perception of hazard adjustments, and disaster experience; socio-cultural and socio-demographic factors, such as ethnicity and minority status, language, social bonds, income inequality, economic resources, gender, social inequality and diversity; and finally disaster agent characteristics, with an interesting but not thoroughly developed discussion of natural versus technological disasters.
The account provided in chapters two to five is rich and informative in terms of studies reviewed and findings commented. However, it does not filter enough between research results that are revealing and insightful and others that appear almost as platitudes, either because they could be derived just from common sense or because they had been already exposed in the previous assessment (dating some three decades earlier) and have been repeated over and over in publications ever since. Here are some examples: "People who are poor and marginalized have fewer resources to devote to preparedness and have less access to information on hazard reduction" (p. 44); "... organizations that are experiencing financial difficulty will tend to downplay preparedness if it is seen as low priority or optional ..." (p. 46); "... minorities find it harder to cope with disaster because they tend to have less wealth and lower incomesy" (p. 169); "Other things being equal, large-scale, multi-jurisdictional events are probably more difficult to manage effectively than more localized ones" (p. 189).
As a consequence of such lack of selectivity, the reader unfamiliar with the literature may get swamped, while the one familiar with it may grow bored. Moreover, visual aids (tables, figures or graphics) are scarce, whilst their inclusion would help the reader to focus on key concepts and main research results. When they are introduced, as for example table 2.2. on page 73 on "Contrasting Models for Emergency Preparedness and Response" they are indeed very useful.
Chapter six also aims at a synthesis of social factors and societal characteristics influencing disaster preparedness and response. It is based on research findings related to emergency management policy and practice. It is informative, well organized, clearly written and, in my view, the best one in the book. It accounts for the changes occurred over the years, not only in practice, but also in the 'philosophy' of disaster management, relating both with wider societal and political changes.
The final chapter explores the relation and integration of disaster research with broader social theory, and also provides some general indications on how to profit from research results for improving preparedness and response. Some key issues are raised, e.g. concerning the compatibility of current models of economic development with sustainability, but are not investigated in much depth. Also somewhat unexplored remain some other issues raised in the book, which would deserve further scrutiny. Two in particular: the potential for disaster created by new pervasive technologies whose negative consequences can take decades to manifest, and the growing importance (or awareness?) of community conflict as a component of disaster.
This latter issue is identified by the authors as a problematic one in chapter four, but is then abandoned. There, they state that 'it is difficult to say whether community conflict was ignored in previous research, whether it is becoming more evident because different kinds of events are being studied, or whether it has actually increased in recent years' (p. 152). One would expect this puzzle to be given far more attention and to be addressed in the conclusions with a meta discussion on the evolution of disaster research from its onset. In other words, an epistemological reflection should supplement the historical account of how the field of 'sociology of disaster' was developed.
The final chapter revisits what has been the
Their expectation seems to be that more research based on a reductionist approach will be able to identify clear-cut linear relationships of cause and effect between phenomena, thus also providing predictive capability. In such perspective, contradictory findings are perceived as somewhat problematic, revealing a lack of appropriate understanding, perhaps due to the inability to capture some key variables or to go further in depth in the analysis of relations between those which are being included. Interestingly enough, the authors do not consider the hypothesis that contradictory finding may be the consequence of complexity in human and social reality. The emergent complexity and reflexivity characteristic of human systems cannot be reduced to a single over-arching model or theory with linear causal relations and simple predictions.
So perhaps one should abandon the search for a grand shared narrative, which makes sense of all the empirical research. Or at least, one should not aim at constructing a theory based on data and findings that, as the authors recognize, derive from a variety of research designs, methods and techniques. There is no doubt, as the book successfully relates, that much progress has been done in the study of disaster related topics. Possibly one should pursue the endeavor, going more in depth into what is known and filling the gaps of what remains unexplored, without necessarily aiming at conclusive findings or concluding generalizations. In particular, caution should be applied in comparisons, which should not be without methodological rigor. Also, one should be careful of terminology, e.g. avoiding the term "correlation" when it is not statistically justified.
As the authors themselves warn repeatedly, their assessment is based on quite diverse materials, broadly grouped under the categories of 'empirical studies' and 'reviews or overviews' (p. 24). In both categories, the research findings are reached and assembled by means of largely different criteria and methods. Such differences, fully legitimate, should not be neglected in making comparisons and drawing conclusions, as they impinge not only upon the research design and techniques but on the very definition and subsequent operationalisation of the concepts and phenomena under investigation. This is to say that while the work for inventorying findings is rather straightforward, with commitment and investment of time as basic requirements, the comparative work needs theoretical knowledge and methodological skill. Perhaps the authors should have reserved some more space to the discussion of methodological (and epistemological) issues and (again) discriminate further between what to include and what not.
Parallel to the call for more research, an equally pervasive claim is that little has been done outside the United States - which is in partial contradiction with the acknowledgment made to non-U.S. contributions in the first chapter. This shows a lack of awareness that there exists an abundant literature in languages other than English (leaving aside oral traditions). Far from claiming that the authors should dominate the whole of it (and particularly in a book whose focus is the U.S.), I would expect them to take a less ethnocentric perspective when formulating their assessments. Also, the claim shows scarce attention to a growing body of literature which, though not in the stream of the "sociology of disaster" has provided valuable insights for disaster related topics, also pointing to emergent phenomena, some virtually unexplored in the traditional view. Again, one doesn't expect the authors to be universally knowledgeable, but precisely for that reason they should refrain from such a drastic outlook.
In spite of its weaknesses, the book is a useful inventory, accounting for progress in research in the last three decades accomplished by knowledgeable and competent scholars. As such, it should be in the library of everyone interested in disaster-related topics, be they academics or practitioners.