Culture’s influence on social network vulnerabilities for ethnic minorities in rural disaster events

• Published in: Journal of international humanitarian action 2018-12, Vol.3 (1), p.1-17, Article 17
• Main Authors: Galindo, Kim B., Eslami, Zohreh R., Bashir, Hassan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Climate Change; Culture; Data; Disaster; Disaster recovery; Ethnic groups; Flood; Housing recovery; Human Rights; International Humanitarian Law; International Relations; Law; Law and Criminology; Law of Armed Conflict; Migration; Minorities; Minority & ethnic groups; Minority groups; Natural Hazards; Research Article; Rural; Rural areas; Social networks; Social norms; Sociocultural factors
• ISSN: 2364-3412; 2364-3404
• DOI: 10.1186/s41018-018-0047-2

This paper aims to explain survey findings regarding disaster recovery processes among ethnic groups in a rural Texas community. The research was conducted over a 4-year period with most of the survey data collected over the summer of 2004. The research was descriptive in nature, attempting to document processes and sources of recovery aid acquisition following a natural disaster, and viewed through the lens of cultural and ethnic literature regarding minorities and disaster recovery processes. The difficulty in explaining research findings comes from the fact that data was collected at the household level, yet the explanations which best elucidate the findings are derived from a different level of analysis than that of the survey. The variation in aid acquisition between ethnic groups is best understood as a manifestation of community cultural norms, which implies both individual, cognitive norms, as well as social norms. Ethnic literature focused on minorities in disaster situations, excerpts from qualitative data, and personal observations are used to support the interpretation of the data presented herein pointing to cultural flexibility in recovery processes, which are stifled by institutional barriers hampering recovery efficiencies.