Doctoral Dissertation Research: Awareness of Vulnerability to Terrorism in Urban Areas: Social Network and Mobility Effects in Worcester, MA and New York, NY

博士论文研究：城市地区对恐怖主义脆弱性的认识：马萨诸塞州伍斯特和纽约州纽约市的社交网络和流动性影响

• 批准号: 0802718
• 负责人: Susan Hanson
• 金额: $ 1.2万
• 依托单位: Clark University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-03-15 至 2009-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0802718&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Awareness; Vulnerability

U.S. cities are predicted to remain likely targets of terrorism, yet little is known about how urban residents prepare for and respond to terrorist events. As a result, there is inadequate theory concerning people's resilience to terrorist attacks in contemporary U.S. society. This doctoral dissertation research examines how individuals' social contacts and mobility shape the way they perceive their vulnerability and the vulnerability of their households to terrorism, and how people act upon these perceptions. Since gender affects both social interactions and mobility, the affect of gender on vulnerability awareness will also be explored. The project asks the following questions: (1) How do an individual's personal contacts and daily mobility affect the type of information acquired about the probability of experiencing terrorism; the exposure to a range of choices for responding to the threat of terrorism or actual terrorist events; the actual response to terrorism; and the perception of risk and awareness of vulnerability? 2) How does the gendered nature of personal contacts and mobility affect a person's awareness of vulnerability to terrorism? In-depth interviews with low- and middle-income households in the Worceser, MA and New York, NY metro areas will provide data on how people become aware of their vulnerability to terrorism through their personal contacts and daily mobility. The findings will show how personal contacts and affiliations, as well as mobility and locations visited, affect information flows to individuals regarding terrorism and potential mitigation activities, as well as awareness of household vulnerabilty. A grounded theory, qualitative approach is used to generate analyse the data, while several statistical techniques are used to establish generalizability.Research on New York City after 9/11 shows that social destruction spread beyond the site of physical destruction, highlighting the need to reconceptualize the existence and creation of urban vulnerabilities and how municipalities might best prepare their populations for terrorism. This research will generate theory relevant for policy makers, especially emergency managers, who seek to reduce urban vulnerability and build resiliency in a time of terrorism. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish an independent research career.

据预测，美国城市仍可能成为恐怖主义的目标，但人们对城市居民如何准备和应对恐怖事件知之甚少。因此，在当代美国社会中，关于人们对恐怖袭击的韧性的理论是不充分的。这项博士论文研究考察了个人的社会联系和流动性如何塑造他们对自己和家人对恐怖主义的脆弱性的感知方式，以及人们如何对这些认知采取行动。由于性别对社会互动和流动性都有影响，因此也将探讨性别对脆弱意识的影响。该项目提出以下问题：(1)个人接触和日常活动如何影响获得的关于经历恐怖主义的可能性的信息类型；接触到应对恐怖主义威胁或实际恐怖事件的一系列选择；对恐怖主义的实际反应；以及对风险的感知和对脆弱性的认识？2)个人接触和流动的性别性质如何影响一个人对恐怖主义脆弱性的认识？对马萨诸塞州伍塞市和纽约州纽约大都市区的低收入和中等收入家庭的深入访谈将提供数据，说明人们如何通过个人联系和日常行动意识到他们对恐怖主义的脆弱性。调查结果将显示个人联系和联系，以及流动性和访问的地点，如何影响流向个人的关于恐怖主义和潜在缓解活动的信息流，以及对家庭脆弱性的认识。作为一种扎根的理论，定性的方法被用来产生和分析数据，而几种统计技术被用来建立概括性。9/11事件后对纽约市的研究表明，社会破坏超出了物理破坏的范围，突出了需要重新定义城市脆弱性的存在和创造，以及市政当局如何最好地使其人口做好应对恐怖主义的准备。这项研究将产生与政策制定者，特别是应急管理者相关的理论，他们寻求减少城市的脆弱性，并在恐怖主义时期建立复原力。作为博士论文研究改进奖，该奖项还将为有前途的学生建立独立的研究生涯提供支持。