The Family and Community Context of Individual Reactions to Disaster
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Date
1973-08
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Disaster Research Center
Abstract
Description
Disaster events by their very nature are not everyday occurrences. For most people therefore, the experiential dimension concerning disaster behavior tends to be mediated through others, generally through the mass media. Mass media accounts generally emphasize stories of individual trauma is often used as the primary measure of newsworthiness: the greater the trauma, the greater the newsworthiness. Consequently, the “experiences” that most persons have with disaster effects are those which focused on individual trauma. Such reportage, in addition, often implies a causal sequence somewhat as follows:
1. disaster agents create effects which produce extensive individual disorganization.
2. aggregate individual disorganization, in turn, creates family disorganization.
3. aggregate family disorganization creates community disorganization.
Keywords
family, , individual reactions, community, disaster agents