Christopher Cocking

Cooperation versus competition in a mass emergency evacuation: A new laboratory simulation and a new theoretical model

Virtual reality technology is argued to be suitable to the simulation study of mass evacuation behavior, because of the practical and ethical constraints in researching this field. This article describes three studies in which a new virtual reality paradigm was used, in which participants had to escape from a burning underground rail station. Study 1 was carried out in an immersion laboratory and demonstrated that collective identification in the crowd was enhanced by the (shared) threat embodied in emergency itself. In Study 2, high-identification participants were more helpful and pushed less than did low-identification participants. In Study 3, identification and group size were experimentally manipulated, and similar results were obtained. These results support a hypothesis according to which (emergent) collective identity motivates solidarity with strangers. It is concluded that the virtual reality technology developed here represents a promising start, although more can be done to embed it in a traditional psychology laboratory setting.

The psychology of crowd behaviour in emergency evacuations: Results from two interview studies and implications for the Fire and Rescue Services

Existing psychological models of crowd behaviour were applied to examine emergency egress behaviour, and how this could facilitate the safe management of mass evacuations. Two interview-based studies of survivors experiences of different emergencies were conducted. It was found that far from mass panic occurring, being in an emergency can create a common identity amongst those affected. A consequence of this is that people are cooperative and altruistic towards others - even when amongst strangers, and/or in life-threatening situations. The analysis has direct implications for how the Fire and Rescue Services manage mass evacuations. In line with earlier critiques, the concept of mass panic is considered to be a myth unsupported by existing evidence. Crowds in emergencies can be trusted to behave in more social ways than previously expected by some involved in emergency planning.

The role of "zero-responders" during 7/7: implications for the emergency services

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the psychological processes involved in spontaneous co-operation by survivors of mass emergencies, and the possible implications this may have for emergency responders. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative interview study was conducted with 12 survivors and witnesses of the 7 July 2005 London bombings. Data were subjected to thematic analysis. Findings – Spontaneous co-operation amongst survivors often emerged, and this was a function of a common identity that grew out of a sense of shared fate amongst those affected. Some social influence that encouraged co-operation also occurred, and this was dependent upon whether there was a sense of shared identity between source and target of influence. Research limitations/implications – Evidence was only collected from a sub-set of one incident (7/7), thus limiting possible generalisability of the findings. Further research into comparable situations would provide a better understanding of the processes und...

Promoting resilience and emotional wellbeing of transgender young people: research at the intersections of gender and sexuality

ABSTRACT Within lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) research there is increasing health-related scholarship on trans lives, with a growing awareness of the impact of health inequalities on trans well-being. The aim of the paper is to provide greater understanding of transgender young people’s views of what is needed to promote their emotional well-being and resilience by undertaking specific analysis of data collected as part of wider research with young people (n = 97). The study utilised participatory qualitative methods with a cross sectional design generating data via a focus group with trans youth (n = 5), followed by thematic analysis. Findings suggest that both individual and collective capacities or resources enable and sustain resilience and well-being for trans young people. The adversity trans youth face is present in school, the community and in healthcare, but they are able to find places where they feel safe and connected to others. Practitioners, teachers and school nurses are well positioned to facilitate structural change in alliance with trans youth to promote resilience. Research results were utilised to inform health improvement, commissioning and service delivery.

Collective resilience versus collective vulnerability after disasters- a Social Psychological perspective

Disasters seem to strike with increasing frequency in our global community, especially now that we live in an era of almost instant media coverage of each new emergency. Therefore, emergency management and disaster mitigation strategies appear to be increasingly necessary in this post-9/11 world. However, it is debatable whether the world we inhabit has become a more dangerous place to live in, or whether people are now more aware of disasters and are so more risk averse. This may also be influenced by the extensive coverage that many disasters receive, especially now technology allows those affected to broadcast footage of disasters to a global audience as they happen. Despite common expectations that ‘mass panic’ is the dominant response in mass emergencies (Goltz, 1984; Fahy et al., 2011), over 50 years of research, and nearly 500 published articles archived by the US-based Disaster Research Center, have found that communities often cope with disasters and emergencies much better than expected. Rather than fracturing social bonds, disasters can actually bring people together in mutual support and cooperation in ways rarely seen before the disaster. Nevertheless, there is a contrast in perspectives on how people cope with disasters. Firstly, there is the prevailing orthodoxy advocating the concept of ‘vulnerability’ where it is assumed that people will be traumatized by these events, that their capacity to cope with the pressures of everyday life may be compromised as a result, and therefore clinical interventions should be developed to help those traumatized readjust to normal life afterwards. More recently though, a new perspective has emerged that considers the concept of ‘resilience’, where it is argued that both people and organizations cope surprisingly well with adversity, and that behaviour during and after mass emergencies is not so divorced from usual social norms as previously expected. Indeed, both sociological (Tierney and Trainor, 2004; Dynes, 2006) and psychological (Drury et al., 2009a, 2009b; Williams and Drury, 2010) evidence suggest that far from cliched accounts of mass panic, people and organizations are remarkably resilient both during and after mass emergencies. Therefore, it would seem that approaches to stress and trauma can benefit from the study of collective resilience, and that groups can be considered as a psychological resource that professionals can draw upon to inform their interventions. This chapter will explore the development of models that attempt to explain behaviour during and after mass emergencies, and look at how collective approaches to stress and trauma may help with disaster management and mitigation.

Exploring young people’s emotional well-being and resilience in educational contexts: A resilient space?

The term ‘resilience’ is pervasive in narratives of young people’s emotional well-being. However, the meaning it has for those it describes is perhaps less well understood. Resilience was investigated as part of an engagement exercise into health improvement commissioning in educational contexts in the South East of England. One hundred and nine young people in total were involved, and this article reports data collected from two areas that were explored, comprising a sub-set of 58 participants: emotional well-being and resilience (n = 23) and the whole school approach (n = 35). It was apparent that while not all participants engaged with the term ‘resilience’ itself, they nevertheless often adopted creative individual and collective strategies to protect and enhance their emotional well-being. Furthermore, participants reported a sense of resilience that arose from a shared sense of adversity that helped strengthen collective support and solidarity, thus supporting previous work on emergent collective resilience. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed, along with a recommendation for more participatory research, so that young people can be more confident that their views are being considered within such exercises.