Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
managers and other responsible agencies in more
effective planning, in seeking more effective mea-
sures to prevent or mitigate these impacts, in
promoting speedier recovery and more effective
response, and in developing strategies to increase
resilience and capacity to cope with future flood-
ing. Discussion will be confined to evidence from
developed countries.
not only at a practical level but also socially and
psychologically.
With the growing emphasis on flood risk man-
agement (FRM) strategies there is an increasing
recognition by flood risk policy-makers and man-
agers of the need to include more consideration of
the socio-psychological aspects of floods. Recom-
mendations from the Pitt Review (Pitt 2008) sug-
gest the need to begin by assessing the needs of
affected communities. Similarly in the USA,
events surrounding Hurricane Katrina and its af-
termath have increased awareness of the impor-
tance of considering influences beyond national
economic development and have led to calls for
fully integrating other social effects into project
analysis and decision-processes (Deeming and
Durden 2008). According to Dunning (2009,
p. 7): 'One of the lessons of Katrina and [Hurricane]
Rita has been that of all the social effects associ-
ated with storms and floods their impact on so-
cially vulnerable populations has been woefully
overlooked and underestimated.' Dunning and
Durden (2008) suggest tools and methods for de-
veloping informationon social factors and a frame-
work for using these in the planning process. In the
UK, the Department of Health (DH Emergency
Preparedness Division 2009) has also recently de-
veloped guidance on psychosocial care for people
following disasters, based upon work undertaken
forNATOand the EU (Williams et al. 2009). These
reports conclude that the way in which people's
psychosocial responses to disasters are managed
may be the defining factor in the ability of com-
munities to recover.
The above discussion suggests the requirement
of includingmore socio-psychological dimensions
when developing FRM policy and practice. This is
essential with the move to more non-structural
approaches to managing flood risk, particularly
those that require specific behavioural responses
from the public and other stakeholders. This chap-
ter will focus on the socio-psychological dimen-
sions of FRM. It will begin by outlining a
conceptual framework for analysing these aspects,
followed by a discussion of some of the key influ-
encing factors. A better understanding of these
socio-psychological aspects can aid flood risk
A Framework for Analysing the
Socio-Psychological Dimensions of Flood
Risk Management
The socio-psychological dimensions of FRM can
be defined as those aspects that have potential to
adversely impact on the social, psychological and
physical well-being of those affected; in other
words, those aspects affecting a person's social
and psychological functioning. Floods and deci-
sions around FRM have the potential to seriously
impact upon this functioning, often with long-
term consequences for individuals and communi-
ties. These impacts affect individuals (through
mental processes and impacts) and their interac-
tions with others (social structure and relations)
(Cote and Levine 2002).
A simple conceptual framework has been
developed to aid the analysis of the socio-
psychological dimensions of FRM (Fig. 20.1). The
framework is based on the 'hazard' or 'disaster
management cycle' often cited in disaster man-
agement literature (e.g. Wisner and Adams 2002;
Few 2006). Risk management deals with the
preconditions, causes and impacts of hazards
(Rohrmann 2003). Its multiple tasks need to be
implemented before, during and after an emergen-
cy or disaster. Preparedness, damage control, re-
covery and mitigation are crucial aims of risk
managers. These tasks require administrative,
technological, medical and socio-psychological
means and resources. The disaster management
cycle thus divides disaster events into various
stages, normally: before, during and after, or pre-
onset, onset and post-onset phases. In the frame-
work presented in this chapter four phases are
presented: preparedness, emergency response,
