Disaster Resilience from a Sociological Perspective: Exploring Three Italian Earthquakes as Models for Disaster Resilience Planning

256 Pages·2014·1.497 MB·English

by  Barbara Lucini (auth.)

Humanitarian Solutions in the 21st Century
Series Editor: Larry Winter Roeder, Jr.
Barbara Lucini
Disaster Resilience
from a Sociological
Perspective
Exploring Three Italian Earthquakes as
Models for Disaster Resilience Planning
Humanitarian Solutions in the 21st Century
Series editor:
Larry Winter Roeder, Jr.
For further volumes:
http://www.springer.com/series/11580

Barbara Lucini
Disaster Resilience
from a Sociological
Perspective
Exploring Three Italian Earthquakes
as Models for Disaster Resilience Planning
Barbara Lucini
Department of Sociology
Catholic University of Sacred Heart Milan
Milano, Italy
ISBN 978-3-319-04737-9 ISBN 978-3-319-04738-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-04738-6
Springer Cham Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London
Library of Congress Control Number: 2014934299
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Acknowledgements
I am grateful to all the people who made possible this research. Especially the
people, of the National Civil Protection Service, for their availability; the personnel
of the regions and municipalities; the experts interviewed; all the civil protection
volunteers who participated in the survey; and all the ordinary people who told me
of their dramatic experiences: I will never forget their eyes and what I saw in them.
I am grateful to my Tutors for the support, endurance, and patience they always
has for me.
I am grateful to all the foreign professors, researchers, and students who were
always available for suggestions and exchanges of ideas about my topic.
Finally, but just as important, I am grateful to all my Italian and foreign friends,
who have always sustained me.
I am grateful to my beloved family, for my life, and for everything.
v

Contents
1 Introduction ............................................................................................. 1
Part I Theoretical and Organizational Backgrounds
2 Sociological Questions of Crises and Disasters
in Our Contemporary Society ................................................................ 7
2.1 Which Crisis? Brief Overview of Defi nitions of Crisis ............... 7
2.2 Disasters: Sociological Perspectives ............................................ 10
2.3 Addressing Risks from a Sociological Perspective ..................... 15
2.4 Vulnerability ................................................................................ 20
2.4.1 Social Vulnerability.......................................................... 23
2.5 Risk and Resilience: Toward a Relational
Approach of Risk ......................................................................... 28
3 What Is Resilience? The State of the Art .............................................. 31
3.1 Introduction .................................................................................. 31
3.2 Resilience by a Physical, Ecological,
and Ecosystem Approach ............................................................ 34
3.3 Environmental Resilience ............................................................ 37
3.4 Institutional Resilience ................................................................ 37
3.5 Economic Resilience ................................................................... 38
3.6 Infrastructural Resilience ............................................................. 39
3.7 Organizational Resilience ............................................................ 39
3.8 Social Resilience .......................................................................... 40
3.9 Community Resilience ................................................................. 40
3.9.1 How to Build Community Resilience .............................. 45
3.10 Family Resilience ......................................................................... 46
3.11 Individual and Psychological Resilience ..................................... 48
3.12 Professional Resilience as a Proposal .......................................... 50
3.13 Disaster Resilience Defi nition
from a Sociological Perspective ................................................... 51
vii
viii Contents
4 Organizational Response to Emergencies:
Italian Civil Protection and Civil Defence Service ............................... 55
4.1 Italian Civil Protection Service ...................................................... 55
4.2 The History of the Civil Protection System:
From the Unity of Italy to World War II ........................................ 56
4.3 From 1970 to 1990 ......................................................................... 58
4.4 The New Century ........................................................................... 62
4.5 Organization of the Civil Protection Service ................................. 65
4.6 Activities and Instruments of Civil Protection ............................... 68
4.7 Civil Defense: A Diverse Approach for an Organized
Response to an Emergency ............................................................ 72
4.8 Two Systems of Organizational Response
to an Emergency: Analysis and Evaluation ................................... 74
4.9 Final Considerations ...................................................................... 79
Part II Empirical Research
5 Into the Field: Three Italian Earthquakes ............................................ 83
5.1 Introduction .................................................................................... 83
5.2 The Umbria and Marche Earthquake in 1997 ................................ 84
5.2.1 My Arrival in Foligno and Its Surroundings ...................... 86
5.3 The Molise Earthquake in 2002 ..................................................... 87
5.3.1 My Arrival in San Giuliano di Puglia,
Casacalenda, Larino ........................................................... 89
5.4 The Abruzzo Earthquake in 2009 .................................................. 89
5.4.1 My Arrival in L’Aquila and Monticchio ............................ 91
6 Civil Protection Voluntary Service: An Introduction
to the Issue Through Interviews with Experts ..................................... 93
6.1 Introduction .................................................................................... 93
6.2 Brief Overview of the Theoretical Background
of the Civil Protection Voluntary Service ...................................... 96
6.3 Interviews with Experts in Civil Protection
Voluntary Service ........................................................................... 97
6.4 Why Become a Civil Protection Volunteer? .................................. 100
6.5 Prosocial Attitudes and Their Role Within the Activities
of the Civil Protection Voluntary Service ...................................... 102
6.6 The Civil Protection Voluntary Service
in the Regions of Italy .................................................................... 104
6.7 Relationships and Interactions Between
Civil Protection Volunteers ............................................................ 106
6.8 Relationship Between Civil Protection Volunteers
and the Population Affected by Critical Events ............................. 111
6.9 Relationship Between Civil Protection Volunteers
and the Population in the Last Three Earthquakes in Italy ............ 112
Contents ix
6.10 The Civil Protection Voluntary Service as a Resource ................ 114
6.11 Change of Relationships Typical of the Civil Protection
Voluntary Service ......................................................................... 116
6.12 Final Considerations .................................................................... 117
7 Italian Civil Protection Volunteers: “Professional”
Resilience and the Importance of Training ........................................... 119
7.1 Introduction .................................................................................. 119
7.2 Section 1: Social and Personal Data ............................................ 120
7.2.1 Who Are Civil Protection Volunteers? ............................. 120
7.3 Section 2: The Civil Protection Voluntary Service ...................... 129
7.3.1 Italian Civil Protection Voluntary Organization .............. 129
7.4 Section 3: Three Italian Earthquake Experiences:
Umbria/Marche in 1997, Molise in 2002, and Abruzzo in 2009 . 139
7.4.1 Involvement During the Earthquakes ............................... 139
7.5 Section 4: Conclusion .................................................................. 147
7.5.1 Changes of Civil Protection Activities in the Personal
Experience of the Civil Protection Volunteer................... 147
7.6 Final Considerations .................................................................... 151
8 Populations’ Experience of Earthquakes
and Possible Resilient Responses to Disasters ...................................... 155
8.1 Introduction .................................................................................. 155
8.2 Outline for the Life Story ............................................................. 158
8.3 Umbria Earthquake in 1997 ......................................................... 161
8.3.1 The Period After the Emergency ..................................... 162
8.3.2 The Image of the Civil Protection Volunteer
and the Population: Received and Offered Help ............. 163
8.3.3 Conclusion ....................................................................... 168
8.4 Molise Earthquake in 2002 .......................................................... 169
8.4.1 Life Before the Earthquake and the Impact Phase ........... 171
8.4.2 The Image of the Civil Protection Volunteer
and the Population: Help Received and Offered ............. 172
8.4.3 Conclusion ....................................................................... 174
8.5 The Abruzzo Earthquake in 2009 ................................................ 176
8.5.1 Just Before and During the Impact of the Earthquake ..... 177
8.5.2 After the Emergency ........................................................ 179
8.5.3 Conclusion ....................................................................... 185
8.6 Final Conclusion .......................................................................... 186
9 Conclusion: Final Proposal .................................................................... 189
9.1 Toward a Relational Approach for Disaster
Resilience Planning ..................................................................... 189
9.2 Patterns of Disaster Planning ....................................................... 190
9.2.1 Disaster Planning Patterns of the Umbria Earthquake ..... 192
9.2.2 Disaster Planning Patterns of the Molise Earthquake ...... 193