The field of thanatology has given extensive attention to death as an outcome of illness. A more comprehensive picture, however, would also encompass the hazards of natural and technological disasters. Deaths from both natural and technological disasters continue to increase in the United States, despite intensified government efforts to reverse this trend, and despite improved understanding of the cognitive processes of people who face either long-term or impending catastrophes. Key findings are reviewed in the areas of vulnerability to natural hazards, disaster behavior and risk perception, societal concern over technological hazard, and the social-psychological effects of disasters. It is noted that findings based upon natural disasters cannot necessarily be extrapolated to technological disasters, such as the Three Mile Island nuclear accident. Furthermore, data on long-term emotional recovery from natural disasters are inconsistent. Among areas requiring more extensive research is the role of the media, and the measurement of secondary consequences to disaster exposure. Improved methodologies for measuring distress over long periods of time must be developed. The disaster may never end for technological disaster victims because of the long latency period between exposure and disease manifestation.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BurtonI.KatesR. W.WhiteG.The Environment as Hazard, Oxford University Press, New York, 1978.
2.
MitchellJ. K.Natural Hazards Research, in Perspectives on Environment, MannersI. R.MikesellM. W. (eds.), Association of American Geographers, Washington, D.C., 1974.
3.
WhiteG. F.HaasJ. E.Assessment of Research on Natural Hazards, The MIT Press, Boston, 1975.
4.
PerryR. W.Environmental Hazards and Psychopathology: Linking Natural Disasters and Mental Health, Environmental Management, 7, 1983.
5.
SillsD. L.WolfC. P.ShelanskiV. B. (eds.), Accident at Three Mile Island: The Human Dimensions, Westview Press, Westview, IL, 1982.
6.
FischhoffB.LichtensteinS.SlovicP.DerbyS. L.KeeneyR. L.Acceptable Risk, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1981.
7.
MazurA.The Dynamics of Technical Controversy, Communication Press, Inc., Washington, D.C., 1981.
8.
DouglasM.WildavskyA.Risk and Culture, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1983.
9.
LowranceW. W.Of Acceptable Risk: Science and the Determination of Safety, William Kaufmann, Inc., Los Altos, 1976.
10.
KatesR. W. (ed.), Managing Technological Hazard: Research Needs and Opportunities, Program on Technology, Environment, and Man, Monograph No. 25, University of Colorado, Institute of Behavioral Science, Boulder, 1977.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Workshop on Psychological Stress Associated with the Restart of TMI-1, Mitre Corporation, McLean, Virginia, 1982.
13.
ThompsonS.Trends and Development in Global Natural Disasters 1947–1981, Working Paper 45, Institute for Behavioral Science, University of Colorado, Boulder, 1982.
14.
PetakW. J.AtkisonA. A.Natural Hazard Risk Assessment and Public Policy: Anticipating the Unexpected, Springer-Verlag, New York, 1982.
15.
HarrissR. C.HohenemserC.KatesR. W.Our Hazardous Environment, Environment, 20, pp. 6–15, 1978.
16.
PijawkaK. D.KatesR. W.From Rubble to Monument: The Pace of Reconstruction, in Reconstruction Following Disaster, HaasJ. E.KatesR. W.BowdenM. J. (eds.), MIT Press, Boston, 1977.
17.
DacyD. C.KunreutherH.The Economics of Natural Disasters: Implications for Federal Policy, The Free Press, Toronto, 1969.
18.
BolinR. C.Long-Term Family Recovery from Disaster, Program on Environment and Behavior, Monograph No. 36, Institute of Behavioral Science, Boulder, 1982.
19.
SorensonJ.SoderstromJ.BolinR.CopenhaverE.CarnesS.Restarting TMI Unit One: Social and Psychological Impacts, ORNL-5891, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN., 1983.
20.
KiecoltK. J.NiggJ.Mobility Decisions Based on Perception of a Hazardous Environment, Environmental and Behavior, 14, pp. 284–302, 1982.
21.
SorensonJ. H.Evaluating the Effectiveness of Warning Systems for Nuclear Power Plant Emergencies: Criteria and Application, in Nuclear Power: Assessing and Managing Hazardous Technology, PasqualettiM.PijawkaK. D. (eds.), Westview Press, Boulder, 1984.
22.
PerryR. W.GreenM.MushkatelA.American Minority Citizens in Disaster, Final Report, National Science Foundation, Battelle, Seattle, 1983.
23.
FlynnC.Reactions of Local Residents to the Accident at Three Mile Island, in Accident at Three Mile Island: The Human Dimension, SillsD.WolfC. P.Shelanski (eds.), Westview Press, Boulder, 1982.
24.
JohnsonJ. H.Jr.ZeiglerD. J.A Spatial Analysis of Evacuation Intentions at the Shoreham Nuclear Power Station, in Nuclear Power: Assessing and Managing Hazardous Technology, PasqualettiM.PijawkaK. D. (eds.), Westview Press, Boulder, 1984.
25.
KaspersonR. E.BerkG.PijawkaK. D.SharafA. B.WoodJ.Public Opposition to Nuclear Energy: Retrospect and Prospect, in Sociopolitical Effects of Energy Use and Policy, UnseldC. T.MorrisonD. E.SillsD. L.WolfC. P. (eds.), Supporting Paper 5, Reports to the Sociopolitical Effects Resource Group, Risk and Impact Panel of the Committee on Nuclear and Alternative Energy Systems, National Research Council, National Academy of Science, Washington, D.C., 1979.
26.
OtwayH. J.PahnerP. D.LinneroothJ.Social Values in Risk Acceptance, RM-75–54, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, Austria, 1975.
27.
EbbinS.KasperR.Citizen Groups and the Nuclear Power Controversy, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1974.
28.
CovelloV.The Perception of Technological Risks: A Literature Review, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 23, pp. 285–297, 1983.
29.
FiskeS. T.PrattoF.PavelchakM. A.Citizens' Images of Nuclear War: Contents and Consequences, Journal of Social Issues, 39: 1, pp. 41–65, Spring 1983.
30.
SimsJ.BaumanD. D.The Tornado Threat: Coping Styles of the North and South, Science, 176, pp. 1386–1392, 1972.
31.
DworkinJ. M.PijawkaK. D.Public Concern for Air Quality: Explaining Change in Toronto, Canada, 1967–1978, International Journal of Environmental Studies, 20, pp. 17–26, 1982.
32.
CuthbertsonB. A.Emotion and the Media: Chiasmic Interaction, paper presented at the Midwest Sociological Society Annual Meetings, St. Louis, Missouri, April 10–13, 1985.
33.
CuthbertsonB. A.The Media and Technological Disaster, in Natural Resources and High Technology: Keeping Them Compatible, LofgrenS.PijawkaD.HildN. (eds.), Conference Proceedings, Governor's Commission on Arizona Environment, pp. 103–109, Summer 1984.
34.
HoltR. R.A Selective Review of Research on Health Effects of the Accident at Three Mile Island, draft paper, New York University, New York, 1982.
35.
EriksonK. T.Everything in its Path, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1976.
36.
QuarantelliE. L.Consequences of Disasters for Mental Health: Conflicting Views, Preliminary Paper 62, Disaster Research Center, 1979.
37.
DohrenwenB. P.DohrenwenB. S.KaslS., Technical Staff Analysis Report on Behavioral Effects, presented to the President's Commission on the Accident at Three Mile Island, 1979.
38.
BartonA. H.Communities in Disaster: A Sociological Analysis of Collective Stress Situations, Doubleday & Company, New York, 1969.
39.
FritzC. E.Disaster, in Contemporary Social Problems, MertonR. K.NisbetR. A. (eds.), Harcourt, Brace and World, New York, 1961.
40.
TaylorJ. B.ZurcherL.KeyW. H.Tornado: A Community Responds to Disaster, University of Washington Press, Seattle, 1970.
41.
CuthbertsonB. A.NiggJ. M.The Therapeutic Community Reconsidered, paper presented at the Sociology Association Research Committee on Disasters at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, August 27–31, San Antonio, 1984.
42.
NiggJ. M.CuthbertsonB. A.Pesticide Application Near Urban Areas: A Crisis in Confidence for Public Health Agencies, Journal of Health and Human Resources Administration, 4, pp. 284–301, 1982.
