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Building Resilience for Future Extreme Events: Focusing on Vulnerable and Marginalized Inhabitants and Co-Inhabitants

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A special issue of Social Sciences (ISSN 2076-0760). This special issue belongs to the section "Community and Urban Sociology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 October 2023) | Viewed by 47097

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Haorui Wu

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Guest Editor

School of Social Work, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada
Interests: green social work; climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction; public interest design; one welfare and human-animal bond
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Jeff Karabanow

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Guest Editor

School of Social Work, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada
Interests: homelessness, trauma, and poverty; housing; globalization; international social work; organization theory; street youth; street culture

Prof. Dr. Jean M. Hughes

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Guest Editor

School of Nursing, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada
Interests: marginalized populations; mental health; homeless people-mostly youth; community-based interventions; interdisciplinary holistic approaches; advocacy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Catherine Leviten-Reid

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Guest Editor

Department of Organizational Management, Cape Breton University, Sydney, NS B1M 1A2, Canada
Interests: affordable housing; community development; non-profit organizations; social care

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Disasters - including pandemics, wildfires, hurricanes, explosions, mass shootings, and civil wars - are increasing in frequency, intensity, and scope, causing catastrophic impacts on individuals, households, and communities worldwide, and in particular, on those who are already vulnerable and/or on the margins. Disasters, however, can bring valuable redevelopment opportunities to redress various societal vulnerabilities, intending to enhance the capacity to prepare for, respond to, adapt to, and recover from extreme events. This type of capacity is understood as resilience - a shared responsibility at individual, household, community, and society levels, among citizens, organizations/institutions, and nations. Again, the global public health emergency of COVID-19 urgently calls for researchers, practitioners, policy decision-makers, and other stakeholders to establish a community-driven approach to contribute to building international communities’ resilience capacity toward current and future extreme events and to support sustainable development. The community-driven approach must be inclusive of all inhabitants, such as those living in poverty, those without housing, those who face discrimination etc., as well as co-inhabitants.

We propose this special issue to provide an opportunity for the social sciences’ disaster research community to examine the current state and progress in the areas of building disasters resilience, identifying gaps, and reflecting on future directions needed in this field of disaster and emergency management and sustainable development for all. More specifically, building disaster-specific resilience should promote environmental justice and social justice to be aligned with equity, diversity, and inclusion mandates. All types of disasters (natural hazards, technological hazards, and terrorist attacks or other acts of intentional violence), and all disaster stages (pre-disaster preparedness, emergency response, post-disaster reconstruction and recovery, and future disaster mitigation) will be considered. A multidisciplinary and multi-stakeholder engaged approach is welcome.

Among the “sub-themes” that the editors would like contributors to consider include the following, although this should not be regarded as an exhaustive list:

Community-driven topics:

How does the intersection of socio-demographic factors (e.g., race, class, and gender) influence community-based disaster mitigation and disaster-specific redevelopment?
How do the health consequences of disaster (e.g., physical health, mental health, and overall wellbeing) influence building resilience at the individual, household, community, and society levels?
How do certain civic institutions or social conditions (e.g., housing stability and educational systems) influence building resilience for all?
What are the community-based approaches used to empower vulnerable and marginalized residents vis-a-vis community-based disaster-specific redevelopment?

Organization, policy, and education related topics:

What are the means, methods, and measures of disaster resilience at the individual, household, community, and society levels?
How could social policy inform community-based practices regarding building disaster-resilient capacity?
How can we promote the collaborations between governmental and non-governmental organizations to advance disaster resilience?
What training and pedagogical strategies are best for educating students and addressing related issues, in supporting communities, especially vulnerable and marginalized communities, to build their resilience capacities?

Dr. Haorui Wu
Prof. Dr. Jeff Karabanow
Prof. Dr. Jean M. Hughes
Dr. Catherine Leviten-Reid
Guest Editors

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Keywords

resilience
sustainability
disaster migration and displacement
disaster health consequences
multidisciplinary and multi-stakeholder
vulnerable and marginalized communities

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Published Papers (9 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 572 KiB

Open AccessArticle

How Do Professionals Regard Vulnerable People in a Portuguese Community Setting? A Qualitative Content Analysis

by Carlos Laranjeira, Catarina Coelho, Catarina Ferreira, Margarida Pereira, Maria Inês Ribeiro, Lisete Cordeiro and Ana Querido

Soc. Sci. 2023, 12(9), 499; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12090499 - 6 Sep 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1752

Abstract

The commitment to leave no one behind is at the core of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with special attention given to people in vulnerable situations. The present study aimed to explore the perceptions and experiences of professionals who have attended to vulnerable people in a community setting. Descriptive qualitative research was conducted using qualitative content analysis of interviews with fifteen Portuguese professionals from one community-based association, who were selected via purposive sampling. Data analysis revealed nine subcategories, which were grouped into three major categories, namely: (1) meanings of human vulnerability; (2) barriers to vulnerability mitigation; and (3) approaches to addressing vulnerability. Vulnerability manifests as a discrepancy between an individual’s needs and the available resources. With the accelerated pace of globalization and the exponential rise in complexity of systems and people’s needs, vulnerability is gaining visibility, but this only emphasizes the urgent need to find customized cultural, political, and institutional responses. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Building Resilience for Future Extreme Events: Focusing on Vulnerable and Marginalized Inhabitants and Co-Inhabitants)

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18 pages, 1024 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Willingness to Prepare for Disasters among Individuals with Disabilities: An Essential Component for Building Disaster Resiliency

by Dean Kyne

Soc. Sci. 2023, 12(7), 422; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12070422 - 24 Jul 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2433

Abstract

This study focuses on exploring the factors influencing individuals’ preparedness for disasters. Drawing upon the protection motivation theory (PMT) and the prototype willingness model (PWM), a conceptual framework was proposed to investigate the determinants of willingness to prepare for disasters and its impact on disaster preparedness. Data was collected through an online survey, involving 377 participants with disabilities and medical special needs residing in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV). The collected data was analyzed using generalized structural equation modeling (GSEM) to examine the associations among the selected study variables. The findings indicate that both coping appraisal and threat appraisal significantly influence individuals’ willingness to prepare for disasters, which, in turn, has a notable impact on disaster preparedness. Recognizing the significance of disaster preparedness in building resilience and effectively responding to and recovering from disasters, it is crucial to acknowledge the importance of the willingness component in these efforts to cope effectively with future extreme events. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Building Resilience for Future Extreme Events: Focusing on Vulnerable and Marginalized Inhabitants and Co-Inhabitants)

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14 pages, 890 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Building Forest Fires Resilience, the Incorporation of Local Knowledge into Disaster Mitigation Strategies

by Elvira Santiago-Gómez and Carmen Rodríguez-Rodríguez

Soc. Sci. 2023, 12(7), 420; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12070420 - 22 Jul 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2596

Abstract

The severity of the socio-economic, political, and ecological damage caused by forest fires each year requires action plans for disaster risk reduction (DRR). Despite efforts made to incorporate participatory mechanisms into risk governance, much of the research on disaster risk reduction in academia is conducted under the deficit model. This paper proposes public engagement as a mechanism for incorporating community-based knowledge, experiences, and practices into DRR plans. Based on the case study of forest fires in Galicia (Spain), developed within the MITIGACT project, we explore, through the analysis of in-depth interviews, how forest fires are defined, how disaster management plans are evaluated and what concrete proposals are considered. The results highlight the need to strengthen social governance at the local level and to balance the resources dedicated to the three phases of prevention, extinction, and recovery, moving from a linear to a circular model. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Building Resilience for Future Extreme Events: Focusing on Vulnerable and Marginalized Inhabitants and Co-Inhabitants)

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16 pages, 1087 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Social Services Risk Index at Local Level: A Tool for Diagnosis and Decision Making

by Rocío Muñoz-Moreno, Fernando Relinque-Medina, Aleix Morilla-Luchena and Manuela A. Fernández-Borrero

Soc. Sci. 2023, 12(7), 389; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12070389 - 2 Jul 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1826

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a decisive impact on our society, generating both direct and indirect effects in a multitude of dimensions, beyond the purely health-related, which have conditioned people’s well-being and quality of life. The social services system has played an essential role in absorbing the consequences of these impacts on the most socially vulnerable population. Analysing the social impacts and monitoring the risks derived from the pandemic can favour the prevention of risk situations, adjust the resources of the social services system to changing social realities and facilitate the strategic decision-making process to mitigate or minimise the impacts of potential socio-annual crises or catastrophes. This article presents a methodological process, based on the HCVRA (Hazards, Capacity Building, Vulnerability, Risk Assessment) disaster management models, designed ad hoc with the aim of identifying, on the one hand, the social impacts of COVID-19 and, on the other hand, the areas with the highest social risk in the post-COVID scenario. The application of this methodological process has made it possible to configure a set of indicators based on public databases, defined by consulting experts and weighted by a panel of stakeholders through a multi-criteria method to obtain a territorialised risk index at the highest level of disaggregation of the available data, based on the dimensions of vulnerability, threat and resilience. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Building Resilience for Future Extreme Events: Focusing on Vulnerable and Marginalized Inhabitants and Co-Inhabitants)

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17 pages, 300 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Community Solutions for Community Problems: Reflections on a Civic Organisation Colloquium for Resolving Gangsterism in the Northern Areas of Gqeberha, Eastern Cape, South Africa

by Theodore Petrus and Desira Davids

Soc. Sci. 2023, 12(5), 298; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12050298 - 11 May 2023

Viewed by 2865

Abstract

In July 2022, the authors had the opportunity to facilitate, observe and participate in a community colloquium of civic organisations based in the Northern Areas of Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth), South Africa. The main purpose of the colloquium was to bring together civic organisations to discuss the challenge of gang subcultures in the Northern Areas, and how to address it. This article is a reflection on the colloquium, and the insights gained. As well as being the first time that a colloquium of this nature had taken place in the Northern Areas, it was the result of the authors’ ongoing research on gang subcultures in the community since 2013. Using participant observation, an engaged participatory action research (PAR) approach, and focus group discussions, the article provides some of the results that the colloquium contributed to the study. The results revealed that community-based strategies to address gangsterism would be more sustainable and effective in the long term. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Building Resilience for Future Extreme Events: Focusing on Vulnerable and Marginalized Inhabitants and Co-Inhabitants)

21 pages, 703 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Learning Green Social Work in Global Disaster Contexts: A Case Study Approach

by Kyle Breen, Meredith Greig and Haorui Wu

Soc. Sci. 2023, 12(5), 288; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12050288 - 6 May 2023

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 7712

Abstract

Green social work (GSW) is a nascent framework within the social work field that provides insights regarding social workers’ engagement in disaster settings. Although this framework has recently garnered more attention, it remains under-researched and underdeveloped within the context of social work research, education, and practice in Canada and internationally. To further develop GSW in social work education and professional training, we considered how social work students and practitioners can use a learning framework to understand the impact and build their capacities to serve vulnerable and marginalized populations in diverse disaster settings. To do this, we developed a four-step case study approach, as follows: (1) provide detailed background information on the cases, (2) describe how each case is relevant to social work, (3) discuss how each case informs social work practice from a GSW perspective, and (4) provide recommendations for social work practitioners and students using GSW in future disaster-specific efforts. This case study approach centers on natural, technological, and intentional/willful hazards that examine current GSW research–practice engagement in Canada and internationally. Applying this four-step case study approach to three extreme events in Canada and internationally (a natural hazard, a technological hazard, and an intentional/willful hazard) illustrates it as a potential method for social work students and professionals to build their GSW capacities. This will assist in building the resilience of Canadian and international communities—especially those who have been historically marginalized. This article sheds light on how current social work education and professional training should develop new approaches to incorporate the GSW framework into the social work curriculum at large in order to prepare for future extreme events while incorporating environmental and social justice into research and practice. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Building Resilience for Future Extreme Events: Focusing on Vulnerable and Marginalized Inhabitants and Co-Inhabitants)

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19 pages, 1030 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Assessment of Urban Neighbourhoods’ Vulnerability through an Integrated Vulnerability Index (IVI): Evidence from Barcelona, Spain

by Gonzalo Piasek, Iraide Fernández Aragón, Julia Shershneva and Pilar Garcia-Almirall

Soc. Sci. 2022, 11(10), 476; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci11100476 - 14 Oct 2022

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3484

Abstract

Urban inequality, specifically in vulnerable areas, has been a study topic from the earliest days of sociology to the present. This study’s objective is to discuss the scope and limitation of the concept of urban vulnerability, whilst generating an index that detects urban vulnerability in all its dimensions. A factor analysis of the main components was conducted resulting in the formation of four partial indices related to the social class, gentrification, social and employment, and physical & architectural dimensions of urban vulnerability, whilst their sums conform an integrated vulnerability index. This index is applied to the city of Barcelona, allowing its neighbourhoods to be positioned on a vulnerability continuum. Despite being applied in this city, the integrated vulnerability index emerges with the purpose of being replicated to other urban spaces. The mapping of these results using geographic information systems suggests a robust index that allows early identification of problematics, while also providing clues for policy intervention. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Building Resilience for Future Extreme Events: Focusing on Vulnerable and Marginalized Inhabitants and Co-Inhabitants)

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Review

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21 pages, 2633 KiB

Open AccessReview

Analysis of Flooding Vulnerability in Informal Settlements Literature: Mapping and Research Agenda

by Emem O. Anwana and Oluwatobi Mary Owojori

Soc. Sci. 2023, 12(1), 40; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12010040 - 11 Jan 2023

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 11835

Abstract

The United Nations (UN) emphasizes the necessity of reducing the social and material losses imposed by water disasters, with an emphasis on protecting the most vulnerable social groups to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs). Several objectives outlined under the SDGs including Goals 1, 11, and 13 concentrate on minimizing vulnerability to disasters and boosting resilience to extreme occurrences. Flooding is an increasingly challenging problem facing cities today, with consequences mostly felt in marginalized communities. Residents of informal settlements are particularly susceptible to the effects of flooding given that they are compelled to live in the most unsafe locations, such as floodplains. This study reviews the current status of flooding research from empirical perspectives globally and in South Africa through systematic literature and bibliometric analysis of 249 peer-reviewed articles on flooding, with a focus on informal settlements. We detect groups of keywords and major research themes. Our analysis shows that studies on flood modeling in informal settlements are inadequate. We synthesized the research to present a body of knowledge on floods in informal settlements. Future research prospects are identified in areas of upgrading housing and infrastructures, policies, integrating indigenous knowledge, and local participation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Building Resilience for Future Extreme Events: Focusing on Vulnerable and Marginalized Inhabitants and Co-Inhabitants)

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22 pages, 1146 KiB

Open AccessReview

Promoting Environmental Justice and Sustainability in Social Work Practice in Rural Community: A Systematic Review

by Haorui Wu, Meredith Greig and Catherine Bryan

Soc. Sci. 2022, 11(8), 336; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci11080336 - 28 Jul 2022

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 10960

Abstract

Social work’s response to global climate change has dramatically increased over the last several years. Similarly, growing attention has been paid to rural social work; less clear, however, is how social work, responsive to global climate change, is developed, deployed, and understood in rural contexts; this systematic review elaborates on current social work contributions (research, practice, and policymaking), promoting environmental justice and sustainability in rural communities. Utilizing the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) approach, this article thematically analyzed and synthesized 174 journal articles on social work-specific interventions and environmental justice. The results illustrate insights into the experiences, practices, or objectives of rural social workers vis-à-vis climate change. Significant themes from the literature demonstrated that gender, age, and race limited access to social work services and climate-related disaster response support in rural settings; this article argues that rural community-driven social work practices focused on environmental justice and sustainability should be encouraged and that policy advocacy attentive to climate change and its impact on vulnerable and marginalized groups should be pursued. Current and prospective social work scholars, practitioners, policymakers, and other stakeholders should collaborate with local rural communities to address their unique needs related to climate change. In turn, grassroots strategies should be co-developed to promote climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction, ultimately achieving the goal of building resilient, healthy, and sustainable rural communities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Building Resilience for Future Extreme Events: Focusing on Vulnerable and Marginalized Inhabitants and Co-Inhabitants)

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