Russell R. Dynes

Problems in emergency planning

Emergency planning is directed at events of periodic rather than routine occurrence. The paper focuses on three major problems in emergency planning: 1.(i) Most planning is directed at specific agent-caused effects. This focus diverts attention away from more generalized principles of planning that cut through all types of emergencies. This focus also emphasizes agent uniqueness rather than the similarity of consequences which can be produced by quite diverse agents. A series of generalized principles is presented.2.(ii) Most planning is segmented and is often restricted to those segments of the society most directly affected. Such segmentation is the cause of later lack of coordination. An argument is presented that the effective planning unit is one of larger scope, the local community system.3.(iii) Most planning is oriented to create artificial, and thus irrelevant social structures and to impose those on others. Such a model insures its failure. A critique is made of the dominant emergency model, one of command and control, and an alternative is suggested, an emergent human resources model. That model is based on the idea of the importance of the continuity of behavior, individually and organizationally. In sum, the notion of emergency refers to the disruption of social systems, rather than to physical and material damage or disruption. Consequently, such planning needs to be rooted in research and knowledge drawn from the social sciences.

Disaster reduction: The importance of adequate assumptions about social organization

The paper focuses on the importance in having adequate assumptions about the nature of social behavior in designing training materials oriented toward the goal of disaster reduction. The paper will argue that disaster is a social rather than a “natural” happening. Thus any effort at disaster reduction will involve planning and action by various social units. The success of those efforts will depend on the adequacy of understanding that social base. The local community is taken as the primary focus of attention since that is the common unit which is affected by disaster and, more importantly, responds to deal with the event.

What Looting in Civil Disturbances Really Means

Unlike the looting after disasters, looting in civil disturbances conveys an important message from the deprived sectors of the population.

Institutional Resilience and Disaster Planning for New Hazards: Insights from Hospitals

The objective of this paper is to present an institutional view of disasters derived in part from the results of a recent study of hospitals in the United States. It is offered in the hope that a focus on institution will help resolve the present lack of fit between, on the one hand, the increasing complexity of the new hazards and on the other, existing conceptualizations in the social sciences of disasters and emergency management that privilege the community. The paper uses information from 76 participants in 13 focus groups in acute-care hospital organizations in California, Tennessee, and New York to illustrate the argument for institutions. The implications of these findings for an institutional conceptualization of disasters are discussed.

The Fulbright experience, 1946-1986 : encounters and transformations

This collection of essays by participants in the Fulbright Educational Exchange program provides convincing evidence that the transnational educational experience is an efficient and effective way to change the attitudes of people toward others with different customs, religion, and political systems. The book conveys the variegated flavor of the Fulbright experience and the effects of studying, teaching, and undertaking research in other countries. The authors present a set of remarkable testimonials of personal growth and career restructuring. Richard Arndt, Robin Winks, Peter I. Rose, Otto N. Larsen, Ray Marshall, Irving Louis Horowitz, and more than forty others present revealing insights. We learn first hand of culture shock, of developing understanding across cultural boundaries, of teaching and learning about disciplinary assumptions, and of breaking intellectual ground. The book is a fascinating account of a successful program that tightens the bonds of affection and understanding between peoples of differing cultures.