Dombrowsky, Wolf R.2005-03-042005-03-041981http://udspace.udel.edu/handle/19716/442Since the first systemic social study on disaster, the "Halifax-Explosion" by Prince (1920) and the study by Carr (1932) on a general disaster-stage-model, the sociological research on disasters has mushroomed not only linearly but exponentially (Quarantelli,1978: 2). To a certain extent, this growth might have been induced by the auto-dymanics of academia (see Kreps, 1979; Quarantelli, 1979), but in the main it reflects the fact that the traditional modes of explaining and coping with disasters had become meaningless and insufficient. "Modern" societies, characterized by perpetual social change and cultural development, were facing the need for new modes of explanation and better ways of coping with disasters. The reasons for this need are described by B. A. Turner:441383 bytesapplication/pdfen-USDisasterCultural DevelopmentOther