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When disaster strikes, those directly affected tend to panic, loot and refuse to move to safety - these are typical views of what happens. According to an expert on the sociology of disaster, these and other misperceptions of disaster in the minds of the public and emergency managers may result in the misallocation of resources.
"We believe that people become deviant and do bad things," says Dr. Henry W. Fischer III, sociology professor at Millersville University of Pennsylvania. "In fact, most people are altruistic in a disaster. We spend time and resources on what doesn't happen rather than on helping the public with what they actually need."
Fischer, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps for four years, became interested in public reactions to disaster after his own personal experiences. He was only 20 miles from the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant accident in 1979 and has experienced hurricanes, tornados and one relatively minor earthquake.
After researching disaster behavior, Fischer concluded that emergency managers along with the public were basing decisions on wrong information. Rarely did the public run off in a panic or engage in looting in a disaster area and officials rarely imposed martial law. He published his findings in Response to Disaster, Fact Versus Fiction and Its Perpetuation.
The crime rate, he says, goes down, not up. Local merchants who depend on the good will of the public to stay in business not only don't price gouge, they often donate goods to help disaster victims. Workers usually stay on the job and, in fact, often have to be told to go home.
Citizens pitched in to help with
the cleanup and rebuilding of the
City of Franklin following
Hurricane Floyd.
An informal survey of the 300 emergency professionals attending the conference showed that their perceptions tracked with those of the public. Only on the questions of dependency on media coverage to get disaster information and the difficulty of getting those in harm's way to evacuate did the responses match reality.
Fischer says the mass media has helped perpetrate disaster myths through movies, television news, newspapers and magazines. While local newscasts generally report disaster news accurately and post vital information, national outlets tend to fit facts and footage to the common misperceptions.
"The national media tend to create a story to conform to the assumptions of disaster mythology," Fischer says.
Many disaster movies, Fischer says, rely on panic, looting, screaming and other disaster stereotypes for dramatic effect. Even many emergency managers accept the mythology of disaster.
"We all grew up exposed to the media's message," Fischer says. "When we started in this business we already believed in the disaster myth and believed that it was real."
The public believes that only external behavior restraints such as the presence of the National Guard keeps people in line, Fischer says. However, internal, socialized norms and informal sanctions guide most people's behavior.
Most people behave as they normally do — they share and help others. Formal sanctions such as the police force are the least effective in restraining behavior. The public may not need a stringent hierarchy of command and control. "We shouldn't have the tail wag the dog," Fischer says.
Many disaster plans are directed at responding to the disaster mythology of deviant anti-social behavior rather than addressing the real needs of the public to deal with the crisis. "The National Guard should help clean up debris rather than guard against looting," Fischer says.
For further information, contact Dr. Henry W. Fischer III at (717) 872-3568 or by email at hfischer@millersv.edu.
Will you change your local planning and response process based on Dr. Fischer's revelations? Contact Bob Lambert by e-mail or phone at (804) 897-6500, ext. 6575, by April 12, and we'll publish your responses in our next issue of Emergency Management Update.