Alvin H. Mushkatel

The first study of its kind to address the issue of ethnic diversity, Minority Citizens in Disasters focuses on the responses of two minorities—blacks and Mexican-Americans—relative to whites in three disaster events: a propane car derailment, a nitric acid spill, and a flood. Ronald Perry and Alvin Mushkatel find that response to initial warnings is influenced by the source of the information—mass media, public authorities, or family and friends—and by the immediacy of the danger, a group's familiarity with the type of threat, and the cause of the disaster. Though social contacts were most often the source of warning, public authorities were the most trusted and reliable. The mass media, usually considered an unreliable source, proved an effective means for reaching a majority of Mexican-Americans, who often tuned in to Spanish-language stations. Blacks, however, tended to dismiss the media as a vehicle controlled by whites and covering primarily white concerns, while whites often dismissed news stories as mere media productions.Perry and Mushkatel's record of the responses of blacks, Mexican-Americans, and whites not only reveals the differing social configurations of minority and majority groups but, more important, suggests concrete ways to modify and improve emergency management systems.

This book addresses two common problems encountered by emergency services personnel: the design and implementation of evacuation warning systems to ensure citizen compliance with the directives of authorities and the permanent relocation of families threatened by hazards. The authors pay particular attention to the problems of constructing warning messages; to the citizen's interpretation of message content; the techniques of delivering warning messages; and the management of citizen movements out of threatened areas. Administrative issues related to variations in compliance among ethnic groups are also noted. In the second section, the authors explore the social psychological impact and the logistical, administrative, public policy, and political aspects of relocation. They elaborate a series of principles of positive relocation general enough to apply to a variety of relocation situations.