The Human Layer

1
The Human Layer

• Population Psychology
• Related to Disaster Preparedness and Response

2
Overview

• Identify who we are talking about
• Select Psychological Issues and Place Them on the
  Projects Disaster Timeline
• Explore the Nature of the Selected Psychological
  Issues
• Link Psychological issues to the Physical Layer
  and the Overall Model Using Our Simulation

3
We are Talking About Population-Related Issues

• Large-scale psychological issues
• Those victimized by the disaster
• Varying in
• Vulnerability
• Access to disaster support and services
• Beliefs regarding consequences and probability
• Psychological characteristics

4
For Later Consideration

• First Responders
• Health care professionals
• Police
• Firefighters
• Community workers
• Volunteers

5
Some Psychological Issues

• Coping with serious illness as an analogy
• Analytical Focal Points
• Key psychological factors that correlate with
  coping and outcome that
• Can be operationalized
• Can be quantified?

6
Psychological Factors Analytical Focal Points
as a Function of Time
7
Psychological Factors Analytical Focal Points
as a Function of Time
Beliefs about Severity of consequences
Vulnerability Efficacy of responses
8
Psychological Factors Analytical Focal Points
as a Function of Time
Beliefs about Severity of consequences
Vulnerability Efficacy of responses
The nature of the disaster re amount of warning
earthquake hurricane tsunami man-made
9
Psychological Factors Analytical Focal Points
as a Function of Time
Beliefs about Severity of consequences
Vulnerability Efficacy of responses
First responders Evacuation
The nature of the disaster re amount of warning
earthquake hurricane tsunami man-made
10
Psychological Factors Analytical Focal Points
as a Function of Time
Beliefs about Severity of consequences
Vulnerability Efficacy of responses
First responders Evacuation
The nature of the disaster re amount of warning
earthquake hurricane tsunami man-made
Post-trauma stress (PTSD) Place Identity
11
Analysis and Planning under Normal Conditions

• Beliefs about vulnerability
• Beliefs about severity of consequences
• Beliefs about probability
• Beliefs about efficacy of response

12
Beliefs about Severity of Consequences

• Can inform the degree to which the community is
  prepared
• physically
• psychologically

13
Beliefs about Severity of Consequences

• Can affect the degree to which the community is
  prepared
• physically
• psychologically

Bidirectional
14
Beliefs about Severity of Probability

• In a study of Vancouver, Victoria, LA, and
  Anchorage residents beliefs about severity of
  probability was measured
• Unrealistic optimism
• A threat exists for others but not for me
• Unrealistic optimism and perceived control
• The problem of imaginability

15
Perceived Vulnerability

• Imaginability
• it is necessary to examine the assumptions of
  everyday life and the effects of having these
  assumptions shattered (Brown Neal, 2001)

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Beliefs about Efficacy of Response

• Coping self-efficacy is the strongest predictor
  of disaster-related distress
• More than
• lost resources
• social support
• optimism
• gender and other demographic variables
• Changes with time as new information and
  experience are acquired
• Linked with vulnerability and experience

17
Collective Efficacy

• The shared belief that a group can effectively
  meet environmental demands and improve their
  lives through concerted effort (Benight, 2004)
• Communitas the momentary upsurge in collective
  unity and spirit associated with certain ritual
  events and social crises

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Collective Efficacy
Communitas
Normal
Alert
Emergency
Recovery
19
Why Collective Efficacy is Important

• CE influences
• resource management,
• strategic planning,
• perseverance, vulnerability
• Predicted by
• lost resources
• perceptions of social support
• psychological distress

20
Vulnerable Populations and Social Geography

• Vulnerable populations often experience a lack of
  relief services due to
• More vulnerable infrastructure
• Smaller number of organizations with fewer
  connections
• Geographic barriers slowing redistribution of
  resources
• Leading to a decrease in CE and thus an increase
  in psychological distress
• Therefore, perception of collective efficacy is
  mediated by interventions that enhance resources
  and social support

21
Distribution of Disaster Social Services
Organizations and Vulnerable Populations
22
Links Among Disaster Services Organizations
23
Vulnerable Populations Loop
Disaster Response
Social Geography
Perceived Collective Efficacy

• Access to Resources

• Perceived Social Support

• Infrastructure Resilience

• Social Support (Organization Relief)

• Resource Loss

Organization Network and Capacity

• Psychological Distress

Ability to Mitigate Disaster
Number of Organizations
24
Psychological issues linked to the physical
layer Using our Simulator

• Simulator effectiveness relies on its ability to
  identify
• Infrastructure weaknesses and interdependencies
• Relief weaknesses and interdependencies
• Resource allocation
• because these issues predict collective efficacy
  across social geography they support human
  capacity to cope and act during disaster.

25
Vulnerable Populations Loop
Disaster Response
Social Geography
Perceived Collective Efficacy

• Access to Resources

• Perceived Social Support

• Infrastructure Resilience

• Social Support (Organization Relief)

• Resource Loss

Organization Network and Capacity

• Psychological Distress

Ability to Mitigate Disaster
Number of Organizations
The Simulator works here
26
The Nature of the Disaster and the Alert Phase

• Anticipated vs. unanticipated
• Really, the amount of time in the Alert Phase

to moments?
27
Psychological Issues Related to Amount of Time in
Alert Phase

• The extent that resources and psychological
  preparedness will be present will depend, in
  part, on the length of this phase
• Either as a direct function of planning or
  mediated through monitoring (situational)
• Role of the simulator

28
The Psychology of Evacuation
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Predictors of Behaviour During Evacuation

• Panic
• Social Affiliation

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Panic Defined

• Fear that is
• Intense
• Inappropriate and/or
• Excessive
• Often accompanied by flight
• More likely with unexpected events or events of
  unexpected magnitude
• Often viewed as an overestimated response
  (Mawson, 2005)
• Ineffective behaviour is the result

31
Conceptions of Panic

• Classic conception Panic perceived imminent
  danger limited escape options
• Newer conception location of attachment figures
  more important than escape options

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Panic and Affiliation A Social Attachment Model
Affiliation Present Affiliation Absent
Threat Low
Threat High
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Panic and Affiliation A Social Attachment Model
Affiliation Present Affiliation Absent
Threat Low Increased attachment
Threat High
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Panic and Affiliation A Social Attachment Model
Affiliation Present Affiliation Absent
Threat Low Increased attachment Low intensity avoidance of threat
Threat High
35
Panic and Affiliation A Social Attachment Model
Affiliation Present Affiliation Absent
Threat Low Increased attachment Low intensity avoidance of threat
Threat High Increased attachment Orderly flight/evacuation Occasional panic
36
Panic and Affiliation A Social Attachment Model
Affiliation Present Affiliation Absent
Threat Low Increased attachment Low intensity avoidance of threat
Threat High Increased attachment Orderly flight/evacuation Occasional panic Mass panic
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Panic and Affiliation A Social Attachment Model
Affiliation Present Affiliation Absent
Threat Low Increased attachment Low intensity avoidance of threat
Threat High Increased attachment Orderly flight/evacuation Occasional panic Mass panic toward the familiar, not always away from danger
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Evacuation
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Panic as a Social Phenomenon

• Elevated by a lack of familiarity with place
  exacerbating contagion
• Reduced by support given and received
• If you cant find loved ones, find someone
• Called the convergence effect
• To help others
• Evidence of being alive and unaffected
• Social comparison