Theses and Dissertations Collection

In order to reduce the impacts of natural disasters, research in Geography and the natural hazards sub-discipline have made efforts to understand the complex relationship between social systems and natural hazard impacts. These studies help agencies and communities better understand local hazards and their resulting impacts, which can help them develop and implement ways to mitigate natural hazards impacts and improve recovery potential. However, natural hazards research is often applied in nature and has been criticized for lacking theoretical focus. Due to these limitations, this dissertation examines alternative theoretical foundations that can be used to develop a theoretical framework that utilizes social theory to better explain existing patterns of vulnerability and resilience and how those influence overall recovery potential. Additionally, this dissertation presents enhanced methodologies for measuring vulnerability from and theoretically robust standpoint.

This research presents the INSeRT conceptual framework and associated methodologies developed from a resilience theory, political ecology, and structuration theoretical perspective. This INSeRT framework addresses the impact of the social structuration of society, multi-scalar factors, risk perception, social capital and human-environment interactions on vulnerability by utilizing social theory foundations. Society is structural, so the employment of a structural or hierarchical model based on structuration theory principles reliably represent processes occurring within the current social structure. This dissertation also provides a measurable link between social structure, risk perception and demographics from surveys and statistical analysis to provide information about how risk perception and structuration impact the way people react to or cope with hazard events at an individual level. This information can enhance existing vulnerability/resilience assessments to provide a holistic measure of vulnerability. The methods presented can also help explain why people live in risky areas and help communities develop ways to mitigate against policies or social processes that perpetuate these types of development patterns.