Standard emergency management training programs prepare for the effects of a disaster on a community. However, factors beyond logistics, such as understanding at-risk populations, can be critical in ensuring that a disaster does not become a catastrophe. Based on materials developed for the FEMA Higher Education Project, this book, designed for classroom use, explores how vulnerable social groups cope with hazardous events. The authors examine historical, geographical, social, and cultural factors that put people at risk, before, during, and after disasters. The text also offers strategies for community-based mitigation programs that engage those people most at risk.

About the Author

Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, USA UCDHSC, Denver, Colorado, USA Indiana University, Indianapolis, USA

Table of Contents

Understanding Social Vulnerability, B.D. Phillips and M. Fordham Theoretical Framing of Worldviews, Values, and Structural Dimensions of Disasters, J. Scandlyn, C.N. Simon, D.S.K. Thomas, and J. Brett The Intrinsic Link of Vulnerability to Sustainable Development, K. Oviatt and J. Brett Class, N. Dash, B.G. McCoy, and A. Herring Race and Ethnicity, N. Dash Gender, E. Enarson Age, L. Peek Disability, A. Clive, E.A. Davis, R. Hansen, and J. Mincin Health, D.S.K. Thomas, E.A. Davis, and A. Clive Language and Literacy, B.H. Morrow Households and Families, L. Blinn-Pike Violence and Disaster Vulnerability, B.D. Phillips, P. Jenkins, and E. Enarson The Nature of Human Communities, E. Passerini Measuring and Conveying Social Vulnerability, D.S.K. Thomas, P.K. Stephens, and J. Goldsmith New Ideas for Practitioners, E. Enarson, E. Gruntfest, B.D. Phillips, and D.S.K. Thomas Promoting Empowerment: Social Change in Disasters, W.E. Lovekamp Biographies of Contributors Index