Emergent Citizen Groups in Disaster Preparedness and Recovery Activities

This is a report briefly summarizing a three and a half year project that extended from late 1981 until the end of 1984. As a global and general summary, it can be read by many audiences as an overall introduction to our work. disaster researchers and social and behavioral scientists who might want to know how we conducted our study and/or who might be interested in the inductively but empirically generated hypotheses and models we generated. With a heavy emphasis on research procedures and general findings, the r~ ort does not present much of the data as such. The more specific details, including the quantitative and qualitative data are given in the more specialized cmpleted or planned papers and publications listed in an appendix to this report. Similarly, while we allude to some of the implications of our work, those policy makers, planners, and citizens concerned with disasters, will have to look at our other writings other than this volume, to derive concrete and specific applications of our research results. However, this report is primarily aimed at The relocation of DRC from Ohio State University to the University of Delaware at the end of December 1984, while it did not interfere with the completion of the data gathering phase of the project, did delay more than would otherwise have been the case, the finishing of some of the more specific analyses and more specific topical papers that were planned. It is anticipated that the uncompleted analytical and writing work will be concluded in the coming months. However, there is no reason to think that the yet unfinished specifically oriented analyses will alter or modify in any significant ways the general findings summarized in the this final report, which is partly based OF more than two dozen publically circulated specific analyses, as well as twice as many analyses presently available only in DRC internal documents.