Evacuees Perceptions of Disaster Relief and Recovery: Analyzing the Importance of Social and Kinship Networks Among Hurricane Evacuees on the Mississippi Gulf Coast

这项研究的核心问题是，在卡特里娜飓风等自然灾害之后，社会（和亲属关系）网络在决定一个人的成功方面所起的作用。“成功”指的是个人获得身体和情感上的缓解的能力，以及在灾难发生后立即保持对社区最终恢复的强烈认识。社交网络就像胶水一样把个人粘在一起，它们构成了我们用来做决定和采取行动的信息来源的大部分结构。社交网络可以保护个人免受像卡特里娜飓风这样的灾难的影响，也可以作为一个紧急响应系统，在灾难发生后帮助恢复。有些社交网络很强大，而有些则很弱。一些拥有相同财富水平的人可能在卡特里娜飓风中遭受了类似程度的生命损失，但有些人在个人和经济上都应付得很好，而另一些人则没有。许多个人属性影响着人们的反应，就像社会网络的属性一样。了解这些社会网络的属性对于准备和从未来的灾难中恢复是有价值的。例如，广泛的当地家庭关系，与邻居的紧密联系，或者社区和公民组织的发展，都可能是让人们更好地为未来的灾难做好准备并从中恢复过来的关键。如果是这样，那么对于那些没有牢固的当地家庭关系的社区来说，邻里和民间组织可能更频繁地需要做好备灾准备。为了研究社交网络在其中扮演的角色，研究人员将在密西西比州墨西哥湾沿岸最困难的两个县汉考克县和哈里森县进行实地调查。调查工具将测量亲属关系和邻居关系的强度和数量为个人在不同的密西西比海湾沿岸社区。这项分析将提供一种在他们的直接社区内建立联系和桥接网络的措施。个人救济措施和对恢复的看法将在统计分析中加以审查。将使用类似的分析来研究个人的社会和亲属网络与他们的社会经济地位对救灾和恢复观念的影响。这项研究的更广泛的影响是，它将提高社区和团体的能力，了解如何通过确定社区社会网络，在灾难性自然事件发生之前和之后解决公共政策、健康、安全和公共福利方面的问题。

The central question of the study is about the role that social (and kinship) networks in determining a person's success in the aftermath of a natural disaster such as Hurricane Katrina. "Success" refers to the individual's capacity to obtain physical and emotional relief as well as to maintain a strong perception of eventual community recovery in the immediate disaster aftermath. Social networks serve as the glue holding individuals together, they form much of the structure from which the information comes that we use to make decisions and take actions. Social networks may protect individuals from disasters like Hurricane Katrina and they may act as an emergency response system to aid recovery after such disasters. Some social networks are strong while others are weak. Some individuals with the same level of wealth may have suffered a similar level of damage to their lives from Hurricane Katrina, but some cope well personally and economically while others do not. Many individual attributes affect the responses as do attributes of social networks. Understanding the attributes of these social networks could prove valuable in both preparing for and recovering from future disasters. For example, extensive local area family ties, strong ties with neighbors, or the development of neighborhood and civic organizations may each be key to having people both be better prepared for a future disaster and recover from it. If so, then for those communities without strong local family ties, the neighborhood and civic organizations may more frequently necessary to prepare for disaster preparation. . To study the role that social networks play, the researchers will conduct a field survey in Hancock and Harrison counties, two of the hardest counties in the Mississippi Gulf Coast region. The survey instruments will measure the strength and number of kinship and neighbor relationships for individuals within various Mississippi Gulf Coast communities. The analysis will provide a measure of bonding and bridging networks within their immediate community. Measures of personal relief and perceptions of recovery will be examined in a statistical analysis. A similar analysis will be used to look at the effects of individuals' social and kinship networks versus their socio-economic standings on disaster relief and recovery perceptions. The broader impact of this research is that it will enhance the ability of communities and groups to understand how aspects of public policy, health, safety and public welfare can be addressed in advance and in the aftermath of catastrophic natural events by identifying community social networks.