Details

Subject(s)

• Hurricane Audrey, 1957 [Browse]
• Social psychology [Browse]

Series

• Disaster study ; no. 18. [More in this series]
• Publication (National Research Council (U.S.)) ; 1081. [More in this series]
• Disaster study ; no. 18 [More in this series]

Summary note

"Of all attempts to analyze social situations, longitudinal studies continue to rank among the most difficult. The scientist is here faced with the before-and-after situation; there is a stimulus -- in this case the impact of a disastrous hurricane; and there are social changes to be faced over a period of time. The present report makes this specific in terms of questions to be asked and answered. 1. What type of culture and social organization functioned in Cameron Parish before the hurricane struck? 2. What was the scope and impact of this massive disaster? 3. What course did rehabilitation and recovery run? 4. What were the immediate consequences of the rehabilitation effort? 5. How well did civil defense perform? 6. What social changes following the disaster can be attributed to the effect of the hurricane? 7, What effects did the disaster have on the mental health of the population? 8. And finally, what lessons can scientists learn from this experience as they mobilize resources to study other disasters? With evidence assembled by a competent team of investigators, these questions are taken up in the chapters to come and the answers are argued pro and con with what we must regard as an informed and critical intelligence. In such a spirit, the first thing scientists learn is how much yet remains to be learned. One thing scientists hope to learn is how to improve their approaches to these grave problems, so to develop their techniques and methods of doing research that they can come ever closer to facing up to the social-psychological complex they presume to study in human disasters. Finally, in this area of analysis, to acquire knowledge is not enough. For communities faced with disaster, society has the obligation to implement knowledge as well as to acquire it. In the communities themselves the implementation of this knowledge can be expected to aid survival and recovery. Savoir. prevoir; et prevoir, pouvoir. "Know in order to foresee; foresee in order to control." August Comte's great charge remains the goal of social analysis today and tomorrow"--Foreword. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved).

Bibliographic references

Includes bibliographical references (p. 187-190).

Reproduction note

Electronic reproduction. Washington, D.C. : American Psychological Association, 2013. Available via World Wide Web. Access limited by licensing agreement.

Other format(s)

Also issued in print.

Other title(s)

PsycBOOKS.

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