Alice Fothergill

Race, Ethnicity and Disasters in the United States: A Review of the Literature

In this paper we synthesise past disaster research that addresses issues of race and ethnicity in the United States. Using an eight-stage typology to organise the findings, this literature review presents the results from a wide range of studies. The synthesis shows how various racial and ethnic groups perceive natural hazard risks and respond to warnings, how groups may be differentially affected, both physically and psychologically, and how disaster effects vary by race and ethnicity during the periods of emergency response, recovery and reconstruction. We show that studies have important findings, many illustrating that racial and ethnic communities in the US are more vulnerable to natural disasters, due to factors such as language, housing patterns, building construction, community isolation and cultural insensitivities. By presenting these studies together, we are able to witness patterns of racial and ethnic inequalities that may be more difficult to see or interpret in individual studies that take place in one specific time and place. We conclude the review with policy and research recommendations.

Gender and Disaster: Foundations and Directions

Gendered disaster social science rests on the social fact of gender as a primary organizing principle of societies and the conviction that gender must be addressed if we are to claim knowledge about all people living in risky environments. Theoretically, researchers in the area are moving toward a more nuanced, international, and comparative approach that examines gender relations in the context of other categories of social difference and power such as race, ethnicity, nationality, and social class. At a practical level, researchers seek to bring to the art and science of disaster risk reduction a richer appreciation of inequalities and differences based on sex and gender. As the world learns from each fresh tragedy, gender relations are part of the human experience of disasters and may under some conditions lead to the denial of the fundamental human rights of women and girls in crisis.

Using focus groups: lessons from studying daycare centers, 9/11, and Hurricane Katrina

The purpose of this article is to examine focus groups as a qualitative research method. We describe and evaluate the use of focus groups based on three separate research projects: a study of teachers, parents, and children at two urban daycare centers; a study of the responses of second-generation Muslim Americans to the events of September 11; and a collaborative project on the experiences of children and youth following Hurricane Katrina. By examining three different projects, we are able to assess some of the strengths and challenges of the focus group as a research method. In addition, we analyze the design and implementation of focus groups, including information on participant recruitment, the most effective group size, group composition and issues of segmentation, how to carry out focus groups, and the ideal number of groups to conduct. We pay particular attention to the ways in which focus groups may serve a social support or empowerment function, and our research points to the strength of using this method with marginalized, stigmatized, or vulnerable individuals.

The stigma of charity: Gender, class, and disaster assistance

This article examines the stigma associated with needing and receiving assistance after a natural disaster. I conducted a qualitative, longitudinal study of women who survived the 1997 Grand Forks, North Dakota, flood. Based on sixty in-depth interviews and observation, the data show the ways in which the stigma affected these women when they had to accept charity, many of them for the first time in their lives. Factors that played a role include the self-sufficient culture of North Dakota, the caregiving role of giving and self-sacrifice, the experience of downward mobility and loss of middle-class status, the utilization of impression management techniques, and the ways in which the women shifted their former views of poor people and welfare recipients. I conclude with a discussion of how the examination of the stigma of charity illuminates the construction of class, gender, and race in white, middle-class consciousness.

9/11 Volunteerism: A pathway to personal healing and community engagement

Abstract This paper is a longitudinal analysis of the impacts of spontaneous volunteerism on those who responded to emergency needs immediately following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City. Our qualitative study investigates the long-term implications for the volunteers who participated in a myriad of helping behaviors ranging from working on the bucket brigade to serving food to rescue workers to working as translators for victims’ families. This project consists of two waves of data collection. The first set of in-depth interviews with 23 volunteers was conducted in the weeks following the attacks in the fall of 2001. In the second wave of interviews over 3 years later, we interviewed 20 volunteers, nearly half of whom were original respondents in the first wave. Through our analysis, we found that taking action facilitated meaningful therapeutic recovery from feelings of victimization following the event. In addition to the apparent long-term impact on personal healing, the opportunity to volunteer had lasting impacts on self-concept that translated to significant changes in life choices. The second wave of research also reveals that the experience of action impacted the volunteers’ community sentiment by fostering new levels of identification with and affinity for members of their community. In addition, community response work in the aftermath of a disaster appeared to increase community engagement in non-disaster times.

Women's roles in a disaster

Abstract In this study I examine womens roles in the 1997 Grand Forks flood. Based on field research and sixty in-depth interviews, I explore womens community, family, and work roles before, during, and after the disaster. By examining the ways in which womens roles shifted and the meanings the women attached to the roles, I find that the women experienced role accumulation, which resulted in an expansion of both their roles and their sense of self. By successfully performing the “greedy” family role, the emergent community role, and expanding work roles the women often discovered a new sense of confidence, self-worth, and competence.

What's Wrong Is Right: A Response to the State of the Discipline

In the June issue ofSociological Forum, several authors addressed the question, “Whats Wrong with Sociology.” Answers included increased fragmentation of the discipline, and the lack of an identifiable cumulative core of sociological knowledge. This paper examines many of the claims made by the contributors to the June 1994Sociological Forum, reframes their arguments, and by placing debates regarding the problems in sociology in a broader perspective, identifies many of the recent advances made by the discipline. Focusing on such notable contributions to the field as feminist and postmodern scholarship, we locate the positive side of multiple perspective research.

Children and Disasters

Although researchers have studied children’s reactions to disaster since the 1940s, this subfield has expanded tremendously over the past decade. In fact, nearly half of all studies on children and disaster have been published since 2010, and most of this recent scholarship has focused on a limited number of large-scale catastrophic events. This chapter highlights six major waves of research on children and disaster, including contributions to our understanding of (1) the effects of disaster on children’s mental health and behavioral reactions; (2) disaster exposure as it relates to physical health and well-being; (3) social vulnerability and sociodemographic characteristics; (4) the role of institutions and socio-ecological context in shaping children’s pre- and post-disaster outcomes; (5) resiliency, strengths, and capacities; and (6) children’s voices, perspectives, and actions across the disaster lifecycle. Throughout, the chapter emphasizes advances in methods, theory, policy, and practice. It concludes with recommendations for future research.

Gender and Disaster: Foundations and New Directions for Research and Practice

Past research clearly demonstrates that gender influences resources, capacities, decision-making processes, and outcomes throughout the disaster lifecycle, as well as the practical management of disaster risk, response, and recovery structures. Now well-established in disaster science, gender analysis has grown in scope and influence over the past decade. This chapter updates the authors’ earlier review, again focusing on English-language peer-reviewed materials relating to natural, technological, and intentional hazards and disasters. The authors reflect on the diverse theories and methods shaping contemporary research, and synthesize key international findings about mortality, health, and well-being; gender-based violence; family and work; and grassroots change. They further highlight three critical lines of inquiry now emerging regarding sexual minorities, masculinities, and climate change in gender and disaster research. The chapter concludes with research recommendations and with strategies for utilizing new knowledge about gendered vulnerability and resilience to reduce risk, minimize losses, and decrease suffering in disasters.

Conducting Science in Disasters: Recommendations from the NIEHS Working Group for Special IRB Considerations in the Review of Disaster Related Research

Summary: Research involving human subjects after public health emergencies and disasters may pose ethical challenges. These challenges may include concerns about the vulnerability of prospective disaster research participants, increased research burden among disaster survivors approached by multiple research teams, and potentially reduced standards in the ethical review of research by institutional review boards (IRBs) due to the rush to enter the disaster field. The NIEHS Best Practices Working Group for Special IRB Considerations in the Review of Disaster Related Research was formed to identify and address ethical and regulatory challenges associated with the review of disaster research. The working group consists of a diverse collection of disaster research stakeholders across a broad spectrum of disciplines. The working group convened in July 2016 to identify recommendations that are instrumental in preparing IRBs to review protocols related to public health emergencies and disasters. The meeting included formative didactic presentations and facilitated breakout discussions using disaster-related case studies. Major thematic elements from these discussions were collected and documented into 15 working group recommendations, summarized in this article, that address topics such as IRB disaster preparedness activities, informed consent, vulnerable populations, confidentiality, participant burden, disaster research response integration and training, IRB roles/responsibilities, community engagement, and dissemination of disaster research results. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP2378