Barriers to Mitigation: A Pilot Study

This pilot research was undertaken to discover barriers that prevent homeowners from mitigating earthquake hazards in their homes. There is a relatively significant body of literature on disaster mitigation, which is reviewed and summarized in this report. However, no studies address how these barriers may be overcome so that homeowners would be more proactive in mitigation. If the barriers can be identified, then future communications and policy actions that address these barriers can be taken, resulting in more widespread mitigation implementation that reduces the injury and damage potential that communities face, leading to a reduction in the post-disaster response requirement, and the time required to achieve recovery. Data came from an online survey of San José State University employees; the survey took approximately 15 minutes for respondents to complete. Questions addressed home characteristics, demographic characteristics, perceptions of earthquake risk, levels of mitigation, past experience with earthquake injury or damage, social influences on hazard and damage prevention, and reactions to various incentives. Statistical analyses were done using SPSS version 16.0. Of the total 331 respondents, 215 were homeowners and consequently used for data analysis. Of these homeowners, 79 % owned single-family homes. The sample overwhelmingly expects a major earthquake to occur within the next 10 years, and most expect to suffer earthquake-caused injuries and damage within their homes in the near future. The findings indicate the importance of earthquake expectations and the social network for influencing mitigation. Physical proximity to others who experienced earthquake damage and relational closeness to those who have taken mitigation actions were found to have a positive effect on mitigation implementation by individuals. Homeowners assumed responsibility for mitigation, and cost is generally not a concern. The most prevalent obstacles to mitigation were the feeling that the mitigation is not necessary or that it is inconvenient. Home structures and systems mitigation is far more commonplace than home contents mitigation. Mitigation of home contents was perceived as not being very important, and this perception prevents individuals from taking mitigation actions. All incentive types that were presented to respondents, which were primarily financial in nature, were reported as likely to increase mitigation. Providing advice and information was also reported to likely result in higher levels of mitigation. The development of mitigation approaches that are low-cost and simple is expected to have a positive effect on mitigation actions. In addition, codes were found to be effective at prompting mitigation – most respondents had mitigated for items that have code requirements. One outcome of this is that mitigation of structures is more widely reported than mitigation of home contents. More research is needed to explore non-financial incentives for mitigation, including incentives provided by personal relationships and how social relationships may be leveraged. There is also a need to explore whether different types of incentives (such as free labor or education) would be more or less effective at prompting particular mitigation actions (such as securing the foundation or strapping down appliances). It would be helpful to take a “bottom up” approach by conducting focus groups on these topics. Demographic effects on mitigation and barriers to mitigation also need to be explored further. There were suggestions that demography mattered, but the sample size for this survey was not sufficiently large to draw statistically valid conclusions. There is also a need to revise the survey instrument to remove some ambiguities and inadequacies that currently exist. It would be useful to explore why persons might have taken particular mitigation actions and how social networks affect their mitigation action, among other things. Heightened perceptions of earthquake threats, experience with earthquake injuries and damage, and social relationships are critical predictors of mitigation. Individuals who know others who have mitigated are more likely to mitigate; therefore improved communications, on the personal level, on the topic of mitigation can be effective. Given the perceptions of mitigating home contents, the public also needs to be made more aware of the threats posed by home contents during an earthquake

Barriers to mitigation: Incentives and the influence of social networks.

This study is an expansion of previous research and a pilot study conducted on the barriers to hazard mitigation. Using a sample of 235 American Red Cross staff members and volunteers, factors such as the barriers and incentives around earthquake mitigation were assessed. Demographic characteristics and threat perceptions were also measured and compared to respondents\u27 mitigation activities. While few demographic characteristics could be related to mitigation activity overall, findings were consistent with information found in the literature review and the pilot study. Barriers to mitigation were generally cost, time required, lack of information, and a feeling that it was unnecessary or useless. Incentives that were highly ranked were those that provided financial assistance or free items or services. Generally, respondents perceived that any earthquake that would happen in the near future had the potential to cause damage or injury. In turn, respondents had mitigated to varying degrees. It was found that respondents who knew someone who had mitigated were also more likely to practice mitigation, and respondents\u27 relationships with individuals who had experienced damage or injury from an earthquake did have some positive influence on mitigation activity

\u27People are enemies to what they don\u27t know\u27 managing stigma and anti-Muslim stereotypes in a Turkish Community Center

In the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, anti-Muslim discourse and sentiment has become pervasive in the West. Using a collaborative ethnographic approach, we observe how participants at a Turkish Community Center (TCC) cultivate stigma management strategies against the cultural backdrop of post-9/11 anti-Muslim stereotypes. In our analysis, we use Goffman\u27s work on stigma and critical race theory to explore the socially embedded nature of stigmatization processes for Turkish Muslims in a local community center. Our findings reveal how aspects of Turkish culture and Islam, together with a structural context that facilitates collective stigma management, allow TCC participants to effectively manage stigma and combat anti-Muslim stereotypes. Turkish participants use the practice of \u27dialogue\u27 to prioritize secular identity(ies) through cultural education, normalize the Muslim self in conversation about religion, and embody a gendered presentation of Islam and Turkish culture. While facilitating individual and collective resilience for TCC participants in the face of stigmatization and pervasive anti-Muslim sentiment, these practices also contribute to the reproduction of broader patterns of racial, cultural, and gender inequality

It Didn\u27t Seem Like Race Mattered : Exploring the Implications of Service-learning Pedagogy for Reproducing or Challenging Color-blind Racism

Prior research measuring service-learning program successes reveals the approach can positively affect students\u27 attitudes toward community service, can increase students\u27 motivation to learn and ability to internalize class material, and can change their view of social issues. Studies also suggest that college students sometimes enter and leave a field site in ways that contribute to the reproduction of inequality. In this paper, we draw on three years of data from a service-learning project that involves sending college-age students (most of whom are white and materially privileged) into local, predominantly black, high-poverty neighborhoods to participate in community gardening. Using data generated by student assignments, we draw on service-learning research and critical race/whiteness scholarship to explore whether altering service-learning pedagogical tactics influences how students conceptualize and talk about race or if status factors, such as a student\u27s own race, gender, and/or class, intersect to have greater impact on the racial logics they employ

Hypsilara royi gen. n. and sp. n. (Coleoptera, Elmidae, Larainae) from Southern Venezuela, with a revised key to Larainae of the Western Hemisphere

Here we describe a new genus, for a new species of riffle beetle, Hypsilara royi gen. n. and sp. n., from the tepui Cerro de la Neblina in southern Venezuela. This new genus can be distinguished from all other laraine genera by its small size (ca. 4.5 mm) and the presence of a shallow, wide, V-shaped groove across the apical third of the pronotum. An updated key to the genera of Western Hemisphere Larainae is provided, along with information on habitat and collection methods for this taxon

Cajuns (Research Report #118)

This review discusses the experiences of Cajuns in the region. Acadians, or Cajuns, are a unique group of people who now reside primarily in 22 parishes in south Louisiana and are often characterized by their unique culture.https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/agcenter_researchreports/1000/thumbnail.jp

Emily Hobhouse’s Psychosocial Developmental Trajectory as Anti-War Campaigner: A Levinsonian Psychobiography

The aim of this psychobiography was to uncover, reconstruct and illustrate significant trajectories of psychosocial development and historical events over the lifespan of Emily Hobhouse (1860-1926). The British-born Hobhouse later became an anti-war campaigner and social activist who exposed the appalling conditions of the British concentration camps during the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902), as evidenced by primary and secondary historical data. Purposive sampling was used to select Hobhouse as a significant and exemplary subject. Levinson’s four eras or seasons of lifespan development served as the theoretical psychological approach. The study was undertaken against the background of Merleau-Ponty’s ontological philosophy that elucidates a human science phenomenology where the individual cannot be separated from her social world. Alexander’s model of identifying salient biographical themes was utilized and a conceptual psycho-historical framework, based on both the life cycle theory of Levinson and significant historical periods throughout Hobhouse’s life, was employed to assist with data gathering, categorisation, and analyses. The findings highlight significant psychosocial and historical events in the life of Hobhouse that shaped her development as an anti-war campaigner. These include: The role of her strong-willed and determined mother; the denial of an opportunity to study and pursue a formal education; her management of painful feelings of abandonment and grief; the care of her father during his illness and his eventual death; the abrupt ending of her failed romantic relationship; her networking capacity; and her open-mindedness and capacity for independent humanitarian thought. Against the philosophical background of Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenological ontology, Levinson’s theory and eras proved valuable in identifying these particular psychosocial life experiences and historical events as having shaped Emily Hobhouse into an antiwar campaigner

Roots of Justice: Historical Truth and Reconciliation in Lincoln and Nebraska

A bibliography of resources about the history in Nebraska of Native Americans, African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans and Recent Refugees We hope that these five bibliographies will prove fruitful in helping us to understand what our history has been, where we have gone astray, and what we can do to help bring about reconciliation in our community and in our state. The discovery of what has happened in Nebraska in the last hundred and seventy years is not an easy task, but it is our goal in putting together this bibliography to begin that task. By putting together a picture that has, to this point, been fragmentary we hope to achieve something like the truth. We envisage that filling in the picture will allow us to understand what people have suffered and what will constitute proper reconciliatory measures