Robin Ersing

Women rebuilding lives post-disaster: innovative community practices for building resilience and promoting sustainable development

Disasters result in devastating human, economic, and environmental effects. The paper highlights womens active participation in community-based disaster recovery efforts drawing from the results of the ‘Rebuilding Lives Post-disaster: Innovative Community Practices for Sustainable Development’ by an international research partnership. Two case studies are presented from Pakistan and the USA to demonstrate how women contribute to building resilience and promoting sustainable development in diverse post-disaster contexts. The policy and practice implications are relevant for discussions regarding the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals and framework.

Teaching Students to Become Effective in Policy Practice: Integrating Social Capital into Social Work Education and Practice

ABSTRACT Social workers must integrate social capital more fully into social work policy practice. In order to do so, social work educators must recognize the complexities of social capital and must provide opportunities for students to learn about the utility of social capital within policy and practice realms. Since its inception, professional social work has used elements of social capital in interventions at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels. Educators must recognize this and integrate social capital into the curriculum so that our students can effectively use social capital in policy practice.

The Effects of Cultural Arts Programs on At-Risk Youth: Are There More Than Anecdotes and Promises?

Abstract Researchers have recently developed potent prevention programs targeting at-risk youth. Most programs contain several varying components to address a variety of youth with a variety of problems. Cultural arts programs, which encompass a wide array of art classes, have been added to prevention programs based on little empirical evidence and mainly anecdotal information. Prior to adding cultural arts components into prevention programs, further detailed research on their efficacy must be completed. This review of our evidence to date summarizes what we know about cultural arts programs and their effects on at-risk youth. It also discusses directives for future research and practice.

Pentru Voi Fundatia

SUMMARY This paper presents the philosophy, history, and mission of Pentru Voi Fundatia as a sustainable “best practice” model of interdisciplinary community development (ICD). It is based on positive social, economic, organizational, and/or physical changes that improve the general welfare of the community while providing services to a specific vulnerable population. The Pentru Voi Bakery, one of many programs operated for persons with intellectual disabilities by the Foundation, is used to showcase the key elements of successful ICD. These elements are partnerships, integration, innovation, and transferability. While all community development projects are inherently different, other NGOs interested in creating sustainable programs that utilize the collective agency of local, regional, and international partners can learn from this example. Community Development literature and social entrepreneurship literature are reviewed and discussed as they relate to the Pentru Voi model. Pentru Voi is framed as a practice model based upon the qualities of best practice outlined by the International Labor Office.

Disaster and Development in Ghana: Improving Disaster Resiliency at the Local Level

Women are essential to disaster risk reduction efforts, but their knowledge and opinions are not systematically leveraged as an asset to improving community resiliency. Using focus group data gathered from residents of several highly vulnerable migrant settlements in Ghana, we present the current roles played by women in disaster resiliency efforts, the limits of their enfranchisement in the emergency management process, and the opportunities for the integration of a gender oriented approach to enhancing disaster resiliency among highly vulnerable populations. Lessons learned from the settlement populations in Ghana include the recognition that local residents perceive their community, or “the people,” as the greatest asset in the context of disaster. This recognition allows for personal networks to be leveraged, in locally relevant ways, for the purpose of enhancing communication, disseminating information, and leadership building. Local women, with their superior organization networks, represent an under-utilized resource for enhancing resiliency and community development.

Hurricane Preparedness among University Residential Housing Assistants and Staff

AbstractWhile much research has been invested in understanding preparedness among emergency managers during natural disasters, substantially less attention has been devoted to evaluating the level of understanding and preparedness among nonemergency management employees who must direct others during natural disasters. Among those second-tier leaders are university residential housing staff, who are responsible for the safety of thousands of youth who may be far from the influence of their family. Using varimax-rotated principal components analysis, an instrument was developed for assessing the knowledge and practices of such residential housing staff at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, in the wake of Hurricane Isaac (2012). Relationships were derived between hurricane preparedness and general knowledge of hurricane meteorology, experience with past hurricanes, preparation and threat anxiety, duration of experience of the housing staff and in residing in Baton Rouge, whether the respondent’s primar...

The Effects of Social Connections on Evacuation Decision Making during Hurricane Irma

AbstractThis study investigates the influence of individuals’ social connections in their decision to either evacuate or not evacuate in the days preceding the landfall of Hurricane Irma. Using Hurricane Irma in September 2017 as a case study, a survey was conducted on two groups (those who evacuated and those who did not evacuate) to assess people’s social connections specifically examining three dimensions: dependability, density, and diversity. These variables, together with socioeconomic variables (e.g., race/ethnicity, age, education), were considered in order to better explain the influences on evacuation decision-making. To collect accurate ephemeral decision-making data from evacuees, the surveys were completed during the evacuation for those who evacuated and shortly after the passage of Hurricane Irma for those who did not evacuate. Through statistical analyses, it was concluded that density and diversity of people’s social networks played a significant role in the decision to evacuate or not, w...

Evacuation Decision-Making during Hurricane Matthew: An Assessment of the Effects of Social Connections

AbstractThis study conducted in Florida examines the relationship between an individual’s social connections and their decision to evacuate during a hurricane warning. Using Hurricane Matthew in 2016 as a case study, a survey was conducted on two groups (those who evacuated and those who did not), assessing one’s social connections considering three dimensions: dependability, density, and diversity. These factors, in addition to socioeconomic variables (e.g., age, race, education), were used to better define a picture for what influences evacuation decision-making. To avoid memory decay, the surveys were completed at the time of the evacuation for those who evacuated and immediately after the passage of Matthew for those who did not evacuate. It was concluded, through statistical analyses, that the perceived dependability of a person’s social connections (i.e., their perceived access to resources and support) played a significant role in the decision to evacuate or not, with non-evacuees having more depen...