SGER: Understanding Social Impacts of High-Stakes Litigation Resolution in a Renewable Resource Community

这个项目建立在集体诉讼解决埃克森-瓦尔迪兹漏油(EVOS)诉讼和支付惩罚性赔偿所产生的社会影响的研究基础上，并扩展了这方面的研究。阿拉斯加安克雷奇联邦地区法院1994年的陪审团裁决认定埃克森美孚玩忽职守，判给近3.3万名个人原告2.87亿美元的补偿性损害赔偿和50亿美元的惩罚性损害赔偿。在埃克森美孚多次上诉后，美国最高法院审理了此案，并于2008年6月25日做出裁决(埃克森美孚诉贝克案)。虽然最高法院支持埃克森美孚负有责任的主张，但它将惩罚性赔偿金额削减至5.07亿美元。尽管原告对惩罚性赔偿的减少感到震惊和失望，但原告本应在2008年10月/11月开始收到支票。这个探索性研究的小额赠款(SGER)允许研究团队在阿拉斯加州科尔多瓦收集时间敏感的数据--这个社区有超过三分之一的人口是原告。自以来，科尔多瓦一直是一项正在进行的关于埃克森-瓦尔迪兹灾难社会影响的社区研究的重点，包括1991年至1992年由美国国家科学基金会资助的研究。2000年，调查人员获得了NSF的资助，以记录即将解决的高风险诉讼的社会影响。这些资金和其他资金被用来收集三种类型的数据：1)2000年和2006年对社区和对照社区的横断面电话调查；2)2001年和2006年对阿拉斯加土著和商业渔民小组的调查；以及3)2002-2003年对科尔多瓦利益相关者群体和居民进行的一系列有目的的抽样半结构化访谈。该项目提供资金，对科尔多瓦进行另一次电话调查，并对2002-2003年研究中以前采访过的30人进行半结构化访谈--形成了一个独特的定性小组。这项研究将为受环境灾难影响的社区所经历的心理压力、社会混乱和集体创伤提供新的见解。

This project builds upon and extends research on social impacts resulting from resolution of class-action Exxon Valdez oil spill (EVOS) litigation and payment of punitive damages. A 1994 jury verdict in Federal District Court in Anchorage, Alaska found Exxon negligent and awarded $287 million in compensatory damages and $5 billion in punitive damages to almost 33,000 individual plaintiffs. After numerous appeals by Exxon, the U.S. Supreme Court heard the case and issued its ruling on June 25, 2008 (Exxon v. Baker). While the Court upheld the assertion that Exxon was liable, it slashed the punitive damage award to $507 million. Although shocked and disappointed by the reduction in punitive damages, plaintiffs were supposed to begin receiving checks in October/November 2008. This Small Grant for Exploratory Research (SGER) allows the research team to collect time-sensitive data in Cordova, Alaska?a community in which more than one-third of the population is a plaintiff. Since 1989, Cordova has been the focus of an ongoing community study of social impacts of the Exxon Valdez disaster, including NSF-funded research in 1991-1992. In 2000, the investigators received NSF funding to document social impacts from impending resolution of the high-stakes litigation. These and other funds were used to collect three types of data: 1) a cross-sectional telephone survey of the community and a control community in 2000 and 2006; 2) a survey of a panel of Alaska Natives and commercial fishermen in 2001 and 2006; and 3) a series of semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of Cordova stakeholder groups and residents in 2002-2003. This project provides funds to conduct another telephone survey of Cordova and conduct semi-structured interviews with a 30 previously interviewed individuals from the 2002-2003 study?forming a unique qualitative panel. The research will provide new insights into the psychological stress, social disruptions, and collective trauma experienced in communities affected by environmental disasters.