Citation

Fordham M. Int. J. Mass Emerg. Disasters 1999; 17(1): 15-37.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1999, International Sociological Association, International Research Committee on Disasters)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

12295202

Abstract

People who experience disaster are widely regarded as an undifferentiated group of victims. In the immediate crisis period, it is hard for outside professionals to differentiate between varying levels of need and still carry out their pressing disaster-related tasks. However, soon after a disaster strikes, it becomes clear that some people were hit harder than others and that disasters are not the great levelers they are sometimes thought to be. Rather, complex variations exist both within and between social groups broadly understood as middle- and working-class. The author explores the intersection of gender and social class in 2 major flood events in Scotland, Perth in 1993 and Strathclyde in 1994, and argues for a better appreciation of these factors at the conceptual and practical levels, to be incorporated into the disaster management process.

Language: en