Liesel Ashley Ritchie

The Exxon Valdez and BP Oil Spills A Comparison of Initial Social and Psychological Impacts

The 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill and the 2010 BP oil spill were the largest and most ecologically damaging releases of oil in North American history. This research provides a comparison of the social and mental health impacts of these two major technological disasters. Random samples of residents of Cordova, Alaska, and south Mobile County, Alabama, were collected 5 months after each event. A standardized indicator of event-related stress was used for both samples. The analysis revealed similarly high levels of initial psychological stress for survivors of both disasters. The strongest predictors of stress were family health concerns, commercial ties to renewable resources, and concern about economic future, economic loss, and exposure to the oil. Drawing on more than 20 years of research on the Exxon Valdez disaster, we discuss implications for residents of Gulf Coast communities.

SOCIAL CAPITAL THEORY AS AN INTEGRATING THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK IN TECHNOLOGICAL DISASTER RESEARCH

Conceptual and empirical research on technological disasters has produced a number of seminal contributions including concepts of recreancy, collective trauma, lifestyle and lifescape change, corrosive community, secondary trauma, and the ecological-symbolic perspective. This article presents social capital theory as a comprehensive framework that incorporates and integrates these key conceptual elements and theories. After presenting fundamental elements of social capital theory, we demonstrate how key concepts in technological disaster research relate to social capital. We conclude that while social capital theory has merit and potential for improving our understanding of all disaster events, it is particularly useful in comprehending the multifarious impacts of technological disasters.

The BP Disaster as an Exxon Valdez Rerun

While scenes from the 2010 BP oil spill may no longer linger on TV, past experience teaches that its environmental and human traumas have only just begun. This article explores the social dimensions of disaster and recovery.

Recreancy Revisited: Beliefs about Institutional Failure Following the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill

In 1993, Freudenburg suggested the term “recreancy” to refer to behaviors associated with institutional failures, which he distinguished from the consequences of such failures. This article revisits issues related to recreancy associated with the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. Using qualitative data collected in Cordova, Alaska, between 2002 and 2010, we examine notions about recreancy and technological disasters. Findings highlight perceptions of institutional failures associated with the spill and cleanup activities, providing insights into the social consequences of such failures for those most directly affected by them, including loss of ontological security, the emergence of corrosive communities, and diminished social capital. We extend the discussion about recreancy to include organizational processes intended to address economic, social, and environmental consequences of technological disasters. Our data reveal a persistence of beliefs about recreancy associated with the Exxon Valdez oil spill and the subsequent litigation, and their consequences for long-term community impacts.

POST-KATRINA GUIDING PRINCIPLES OF DISASTER SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH

Sociological Spectrum Mid-South Sociological Association Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t713666965 POST-KATRINA GUIDING PRINCIPLES OF DISASTER SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH Duane A. Gill a; Lee Clarke b; Maurie J. Cohen c; Liesel A. Ritchie d; Anthony E. Ladd e; Stephen Meinhold f; Brent K. Marshall g a Mississippi State University, b Rutgers University, c New Jersey Institute of Technology, d University of Colorado, e Loyola University New Orleans, f University of North Carolina Wilmington, g University of Central Florida,

Contributions of Technological and Natech Disaster Research to the Social Science Disaster Paradigm

The development of a disaster social science paradigm is explored in this chapter. A disaster paradigm emerged in the years following WWII and came to dominate the field. Relying on theories associated with functionalism, collective behavior, and social organization, this paradigm used case studies, interviews, secondary data analysis, and surveys to address research questions that increasingly focused on preparation, response, recovery, and mitigation activities associated with sudden-onset natural hazards and disasters. Beginning in the 1970s, extreme events in the form of technological disasters presented anomalies to this dominant paradigm and gave rise to alternative perspectives in the study of disasters. These perspectives introduced new concepts, theories, and approaches that are increasingly being incorporated into this disaster social science paradigm. Recognition of “natech” and “techna” hazards and disasters further reveals the social embeddedness of all hazards, risks, and disasters and presents new challenges to this evolving paradigm.

Twenty-Four Years of Social Science Research on the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill: Sociocultural and Psychosocial Impacts in a Commercial Fishing Community

ABSTRACT Our paper provides a comprehensive overview of research findings from a unique series of studies examining human impacts of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill (EVOS). Our focused on Cordova, Alaska—considered ‘ground zero’ for sociocultural and psychosocial impacts from this disaster. During the past 24 years, we used and developed a variety of theoretical and conceptual approaches to frame evolving issues and employed both quantitative and qualitative methodological designs. We used ecological-symbolic theory and the renewable resource community (RRC) concept to frame community, group, and individual responses to this environmental disaster. We also employed social capital theory, the Conservation of Resources (COR) stress model, and key concepts such as recreancy, collective stress, and secondary trauma to explain observed chronic impacts. Findings reveal sociocultural disruption and psychosocial stress and the critical role protracted litigation and prolonged ecological damage had for maintaining...

Mitigating Litigating: An Examination of Psychosocial Impacts of Compensation Processes Associated with the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Mitigating Litigating

During the past four decades, a number of social science scholars have conceptualized technological disasters as a social problem. More specifically, research in this arena has identified individual and collective stress as a secondary trauma of processes intended to provide compensation and economic relief from disasters in general and, more specifically, technological disasters. Based on data from a 2013 household telephone survey of 1,216 residents of coastal Alabama, this article examines the relationship between psychosocial stress and compensation processes related to the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. We examine involvement with claims, settlement, and litigation activities; vulnerability and exposure to the spill; ties to resources; resource loss and gain; perceptions of risk and recreancy; and intrusive stress and avoidance behaviors as measured by the impact of event scale. Regression analysis reveals that the strongest contributors to intrusive stress were being part of the compensation process, resource loss, concerns about air quality, and income. Although being involved with compensation processes was a significant predictor of avoidance behaviors, the strongest contributors to avoidance behaviors were resource loss, air quality concern, income, being male, minority status, and community attachment. Beliefs that the compensation process was as distressing as the oil spill also significantly contributed to intrusive stress and avoidance behaviors. This research represents a step toward filling a gap in empirical evidence regarding the extent to which protracted compensation processes exacerbate adverse psychosocial impacts of disasters and hinder community recovery.