- Department of Sociology
LSU
126 Stubbs Hall
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States
- Louisiana State University, Sociology, Faculty Memberadd
A B S T R A C T Population evacuation is an important component of emergency management planning for a variety of hazards, especially hurricanes and tropical storms that threaten coastal communities. This study examined previous... more
A B S T R A C T Population evacuation is an important component of emergency management planning for a variety of hazards, especially hurricanes and tropical storms that threaten coastal communities. This study examined previous evacuation decisions and evacuation intentions across 13 southeast Louisiana coastal parishes. Overall, the results indicate that most people will evacuate from strong storms, especially when ordered to do so. Future evacuation intentions correlated with previous evacuation decisions and corresponded to storm strength and official evacuation orders. Demographic factors had varying effects on behavior and intentions, with gender and race having the most consistent effects. The effects of income, education, homeownership, and housing type varied by storm strength and had different effects for intentions than previous behaviors. Previous flooding and wind damage had minimal effects on evacuation intentions. Risk perception, especially perception of the safety of one's own home, had strong effects on evacuation intentions. Qualitative results support the quantitative findings showing that people continue to rely on storm strength, especially Category or wind speed, as an indicator of risk and that persons who would not evacuate felt their homes were safe or had jobs that required them to report for duty. The results call for more research into how predictors of actual behaviors and intentions vary even while behaviors and intentions are correlated and how individuals determine that their house is safe.
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Problem, research strategy, and findings: U.S. communities rarely plan for recovery after a disaster, but planners have the skills to help communities redevelop, particularly in rebuilding housing, a key to community recovery. Planners,... more
Problem, research strategy, and findings: U.S. communities rarely plan for recovery after a disaster, but planners have the skills to help communities redevelop, particularly in rebuilding housing, a key to community recovery. Planners, however, need appropriate and timely data on initial damage and rebuilding over time to apply for available funding, determine needs for temporary housing, address equity issues, develop appropriate policy interventions, track progress, and communicate transparently with all stakeholders. There is no accepted cost-effective and systematic method of providing those data. We developed a scalable method in which we photograph and assess the extent of home damage and rebuilding by reorienting existing damage assessment methods to provide data that can be linked to GIS and other local data to meet planning needs. We test the utility of our approach in West (TX), the site of a catastrophic fertilizer facility explosion in 2013. We compare our damage assessments to county property tax reappraisals after the disaster, finding that our approach is more accurate, generally identifying less damage and greater rebuilding than the county assumed. We conclude that our method improves on windshield surveys and other suggested methods of collecting damage and rebuilding data; it can provide efficient assessments of damage and rebuilding in technological disasters.
Takeaway for practice: We created a simple and cost-effective method of assessing initial damage to homes after a disaster and of measuring the extent of rebuilding. This method provides photos and easy-to-understand data that planners can use to meet multiple reporting requirements, to reassess redevelopment strategies, and to report progress to stakeholders.
Takeaway for practice: We created a simple and cost-effective method of assessing initial damage to homes after a disaster and of measuring the extent of rebuilding. This method provides photos and easy-to-understand data that planners can use to meet multiple reporting requirements, to reassess redevelopment strategies, and to report progress to stakeholders.
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A B S T R A C T Climate change and increasing natural disasters coupled with years of deferred maintenance have added pressure to infrastructure in urban areas. Thus, monitoring for failure of these systems is crucial to prevent future... more
A B S T R A C T Climate change and increasing natural disasters coupled with years of deferred maintenance have added pressure to infrastructure in urban areas. Thus, monitoring for failure of these systems is crucial to prevent future impacts to life and property. Participatory assessment technique for infrastructure provides a community-based approach to assess the capacity and physical condition of infrastructure. Furthermore, a participatory assessment technique for infrastructure can encourage grassroots activism that engages residents, researchers, and planners in the identification of sustainable development concerns and solutions. As climate change impacts disproportionately affect historically disenfranchised communities, assessment data can further inform planning, aiming to balance the distribution of public resources towards sustainability and justice. This paper explains the development of the participatory assessment technique for infrastructure that can provide empirical data about the condition of infrastructure at the neighborhood-level, using stormwater systems in a vulnerable neighborhood in Houston, Texas as a case study. This paper argues for the opportunity of participatory methods to address needs in infrastructure assessment and describes the ongoing project testing the best use of these methods.
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A B S T R A C T Population and land use out-migrations from urban to peripheral areas can result in non-functional, unmaintained historic structures which deteriorate to the point where removal is cheaper than removal – or demolition by... more
A B S T R A C T Population and land use out-migrations from urban to peripheral areas can result in non-functional, unmaintained historic structures which deteriorate to the point where removal is cheaper than removal – or demolition by neglect. The increasing rate of neglected historic structures is a growing concern. There is a need for research investigating connections between urban growth management and its effect on neglect. This paper applies Newman's (2013) conceptual model of measuring neglect to Geographic Information Systems, comparing rates of neglect in historic Doylestown, Quakertown, and Bristol boroughs in Pennsylvania, USA utilizing different amounts of peripheral agricultural preservation. Comparisons are made examining descriptive statistics on existing conditions, a Polychoric correlation evaluating relationships between drivers of neglect, and a cross-comparative GIS spatial analysis. Results indicate as amounts of peripheral preserved farmlands increase, neglect can be lowered.
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Reports on an evacuation survey of over 2,000 residents of coastal southeast Louisiana.
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This paper explores the complex process of environmental migration in the United States of America (U.S.) focusing on vulnerability to and resilience following this migration. It will be reviewed how internal environmental migration has... more
This paper explores the complex process of environmental migration in the United States of America (U.S.) focusing on vulnerability to and resilience following this migration. It will be reviewed how internal environmental migration has resulted from many environmental changes and disasters in the U.S., and the potential for increased movement from both gradual-onset and sudden climate impacts will be discussed. Drawing on evidence from previous disasters, it is argued that environmental migration is a social phenomenon in which environmental changes are filtered through social structures to force the most vulnerable populations to permanently mi-grate and, once displaced, these populations face numerous barriers to becoming resilient. With this understanding of U.S. environmental migration, Domestic disaster, social service, and discrimination policy are analysed to determine how displaced populations’ resilience, related to housing, economic resources, health, and discrimination, is addressed. It is concluded that although current policies show potential for increasing the resilience of forced and permanently displaced populations, incorporation of international standards for internally displaced populations is necessary to ensure the broadest protection and assistance and to fully address the social-demographic consequences of environmental change.
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Objective: Elderly individuals are considered at elevated risk of disaster impacts owing to increased health concerns, reduced mobility, and fixed economic resources. Social capital can counteract these vulnerabilities by increasing the... more
Objective: Elderly individuals are considered at elevated risk of disaster impacts owing to increased health concerns, reduced mobility, and fixed economic resources. Social capital can counteract these vulnerabilities by increasing the likelihood of hearing disaster warnings, providing social ties to assist with preparation and evacuation, and providing access to financial or nonfinancial resources. I aimed to analyze the relationship between age and perceptions of disaster-related social capital. Methods: I used mailed surveys and in-person interviews with a sample of residents from 2 Florida counties to study perceptions of social capital available for disaster. Results: The results showed that age has a negative effect on perceptions of social capital resources available during a disaster. The elderly reported fewer social ties overall and much fewer social ties that could provide financial assistance, if necessary, during a disaster. Conclusions: These results indicate that social capital may not counteract the social vulnerabilities of elderly persons to disaster impacts. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2017;11:48-55)
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Within the field of disaster research, hurricanes present among the most challenging topics of investigation because of their unpredictability, regular occurrence, large scale, and multifaceted destructiveness. Despite the considerable... more
Within the field of disaster research, hurricanes present among the most challenging topics of investigation because of their unpredictability, regular occurrence, large scale, and multifaceted destructiveness. Despite the considerable research that has been conducted on the human and social dynamics surrounding hurricanes, there have been surprisingly few examinations of individual hurricane risk perception or optimistic bias. This paper presents an analysis of our investigation into hurricane risk currently underway. In January 2006, a mail survey was sent to households in 41 counties adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico, excluding the areas affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita (62% response rate, n = 824). A follow-up survey was sent in January 2008 (52% response rate, n = 361). Measures included Peacock et al.'s index of hurricane outlook, evacuation optimistic bias, dispositional optimism, and hurricane experience (among others). Paired sample t-tests (n = 361) were used to co...
Within the field of disaster research, hurricanes present among the most challenging topics of investigation because of their unpredictability, regular occurrence, large scale, and multifaceted destructiveness. Despite the considerable... more
Within the field of disaster research, hurricanes present among the most challenging topics of investigation because of their unpredictability, regular occurrence, large scale, and multifaceted destructiveness. Despite the considerable research that has been conducted on the human and social dynamics surrounding hurricanes, there have been surprisingly few examinations of the manner in which individuals perceive hurricane risk. This paper presents an analysis of our investigation into hurricane risk currently underway. In January 2006 a mail survey was sent to households in 41 counties adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico, excluding the areas affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita (62% response rate, n = 824). A follow-up panel data collection was sent in January 2008 (52% response, n = 361). Measures included Peacock’s index of hurricane outlook, evacuation optimistic bias, dispositional optimism, and hurricane experience (among others). Paired sample t-tests (n = 361) were used to comp...
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Using qualitative research in one organization that undertook green building, we examine the processes that occur to foster support for a new initiative among people with diverse values and perceptions. We found that framing was... more
Using qualitative research in one organization that undertook green building, we examine the processes that occur to foster support for a new initiative among people with diverse values and perceptions. We found that framing was particularly important, but framing contests occurred due to variation in how individuals cognitively connected different frames together. To overcome these contests, the organization used an interactive process we define as " frame decoupling " through which the frames were identified, separated, and prioritized before new language or frame was selected for the collective organizational goal. We develop the concept " Frame Decoupling " to describe how variations in cognitive diagnostic framing by stakeholders within an organization contribute to framing contests and how these contests can be resolved through interactive processes that effectively decouple various preexisting frames. Frame decoupling is an additional frame alignment strategy that social movements and organizations can use to motivate support and action for organizational goals. To achieve environmental sustainability, organizations attempt to incorporate competing economic , social, and environmental goals as well as conflicting perspectives from internal and external stakeholders (Hahn, Preuss, Pinkse, & Figge, 2014). Scholars have outlined these and other individual, organizational, and institutional obstacles that limit organizational success in tackling environmental issues (Berardi, 2013; Hoffman & Henn, 2008). To understand how organizations overcome these obstacles to sustainability, scholars are looking at microprocesses of interaction that influence organizational strategy. One such process gaining interest is " framing, " the process of assigning and attaching meaning to external events and organizational initiatives in relation to organizational goals (
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The aim of this study was to develop a reliable and valid measure of hurricane risk perception. The utility of such a measure lies in the need to understand how people make decisions when facing an evacuation order. This study included... more
The aim of this study was to develop a reliable and valid measure of hurricane risk perception. The utility of such a measure lies in the need to understand how people make decisions when facing an evacuation order. This study included participants located within a 15-mile buffer of the Gulf and southeast Atlantic U.S. coasts. The study was executed as a three-wave panel with mail surveys in 2010–2012 (T 0 baseline N = 629, 56%; T 1 retention N = 427, 75%; T 2 retention N = 350, 89%). An inventory based on the psychometric model was developed to discriminate cognitive and affective perceptions of hurricane risk, and included open-ended responses to solicit additional concepts in the T 0 survey. Analysis of the T 0 data modified the inventory and this revised item set was fielded at T 1 and then replicated at T 2. The resulting scales were assessed for validity against existing measures for perception of hurricane risk, dispositional optimism, and locus of control. A measure of evacuation expectation was also examined as a dependent variable, which was significantly predicted by the new measures. The resulting scale was found to be reliable, stable, and largely valid against the comparison measures. Despite limitations involving sample size, bias, and the strength of some reliabilities, it was concluded that the measure has potential to inform approaches to hurricane preparedness efforts and advance planning for evacuation messages, and that the measure has good promise to generalize to other contexts in natural hazards as well as other domains of risk.
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In the fall of 2008, a group of eight graduate students and two faculty members from the Department of Sociology at Colorado State University conducted an evaluation of the Church of the Brethren's Children's Disaster Services (CDS)... more
In the fall of 2008, a group of eight graduate students and two faculty members from the Department of Sociology at Colorado State University conducted an evaluation of the Church of the Brethren's Children's Disaster Services (CDS) program for training volunteers to assume roles as responders to disaster situations. The project was carried out in the context of a graduate seminar in evaluation research that met weekly for class sessions.
This study evaluated how individuals living on the Gulf Coast perceived hurricane risk after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. It was hypothesized that hurricane outlook and optimistic bias for hurricane risk would be associated positively... more
This study evaluated how individuals living on the Gulf Coast perceived hurricane risk after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. It was hypothesized that hurricane outlook and optimistic bias for hurricane risk would be associated positively with distance from the Katrina-Rita landfall (more optimism at greater distance), controlling for historically based hurricane risk and county population density, demographics, individual hurricane experience, and dispositional optimism.
This study focuses on levels of concern for hurricanes among individuals living along the Gulf Coast during the quiescent two-year period following the exceptionally destructive 2005 hurricane season. A small study of risk perception and... more
This study focuses on levels of concern for hurricanes among individuals living along the Gulf Coast during the quiescent two-year period following the exceptionally destructive 2005 hurricane season. A small study of risk perception and optimistic bias was conducted immediately following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Two years later, a follow-up was done in which respondents were recontacted. This provided an opportunity to examine changes, and potential causal ordering, in risk perception and optimistic bias. The analysis uses 201 panel respondents who were matched across the two mail surveys. Measures included hurricane risk perception, optimistic bias for hurricane evacuation, past hurricane experience, and a small set of demographic variables (age, sex, income, and education). Paired t-tests were used to compare scores across time. Hurricane risk perception declined and optimistic bias increased. Cross-lagged correlations were used to test the potential causal ordering between risk perception and optimistic bias, with a weak effect suggesting the former affects the latter. Additional cross-lagged analysis using structural equation modeling was used to look more closely at the components of optimistic bias (risk to self vs. risk to others). A significant and stronger potentially causal effect from risk perception to optimistic bias was found. Analysis of the experience and demographic variables’ effects on risk perception and optimistic bias, and their change, provided mixed results. The lessening of risk perception and increase in optimistic bias over the period of quiescence suggest that risk communicators and emergency managers should direct attention toward reversing these trends to increase disaster preparedness.
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This article presents the results of an evaluation of a volunteer training program that prepares participants to enter postdisaster settings to work with affected children and families.The evaluation, which uses a... more
This article presents the results of an evaluation of a volunteer training program that prepares participants to enter postdisaster settings to work with affected children and families.The evaluation, which uses a knowledge-skills-attitudes (KSA) approach, draws on the results of a telephone survey with 46 randomly selected program volunteers.Volunteers reported statistically significant knowledge gains in the three primary training areas: program-specific knowledge, disaster-specific knowledge, and child-specific knowledge.The respondents who had deployed to a disaster after becoming a certified volunteer connected three major training goals to their skills in the field. Specifically, they recalled and used training materials in terms of helping facilitate children's play, setting up and running a disaster child care center, and remaining flexible and adaptable in the highly uncertain postdisaster context.The research also revealed uniformly positive attitudes toward the trainers who conduct the 27-hour training sessions and high levels of satisfaction with the program itself.The article concludes with recommendations for further improving the program and discusses ways that universities can work with nonprofit disaster relief organizations to ensure timely and effective program evaluations.
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Climate change is predicted to increase migration throughout the world with intensified natural disaster impacts, agricultural changes, and sea level rise. While the greatest disaster impacts will affect populations in poorer nations,... more
Climate change is predicted to increase migration throughout the world with intensified natural disaster impacts, agricultural changes, and sea level rise. While the greatest disaster impacts will affect populations in poorer nations, internal migration has resulted from environmental change and disasters in the United States; and climate change will likely amplify this movement. Yet, policymakers have been slow or even averse to addressing the governance challenges resulting from rising population displacement. In this paper, I discuss the legal framework necessary to support resilience from disasters in the United States. I draw on evidence from previous disasters to adapt the Risk and Reconstruction model (Cernea 1997) for use in the US. My model develops from an understanding of environmental migration, like disaster, as a social phenomenon in which environmental impacts are filtered through social structures to force the most vulnerable populations to permanently migrate. The social vulnerability perspective is used to evaluate whether current policies address resilience related to housing, finances, health, and discrimination following displacement. Specifically, I analyze federal disaster (including new FEMA programs), social welfare, and discrimination policy, to highlight a gap between the country's response to disasters and the current welfare state social safety nets. Although current policies show potential for addressing risk and resilience, the rescinding of social services leave displacees vulnerable to further marginalization. I conclude that incorporating international standards for internally displaced persons is necessary to fully support domestic policy aimed at disaster displacement resilience.
