MODULE 4: DISASTER FROM DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES Flashcards
Disasters come in different forms and intensity. Nobody knows when it will strike and how will it happen. Therefore, everybody must know how to determine possible disasters and anticipate possible damages in order to prepare oneself from the potential harms that it may cause to people and the community.
Different Perspectives of Disaster
Physical
Psychological
Socio-cultural
Economic
Political
Biological
Calamities are phenomena that cause great physical damage in a
community infrastructure, its people and their properties, e.g. houses and
environmental sources of living. These cited effects of a disaster can be easily
measured and the most common.
Natural disasters generally affect the physical infrastructural facilities,
agricultural productivity and even lead to loss of life and cause damage to
property. Various factors influence the effects of a disaster on a country among
them are the magnitude of the disaster, the geography of the area affected, and
the recovery efforts directed towards reducing the immediate effects of a disaster.
Physical Perspective
Effects of Physical Disasters
- Injuries
- Physical disabilities or illness
- Sanitation
- Damage in infrastructure
Victims of disasters may suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
and other serious mental health conditions, which are not being given much
attention to by the authorities or even by the victims, themselves. (This may be
sensitive statement)
Disasters are mostly unpredictable, which leave the victims in a state of
shock. They tend to deny the loss and try to escape from reality. Being in a denial state makes the victims more vulnerable to stress, anxiety, and other different
maladaptive reactions. Death of a closed one also leaves the victim in a state of
insecurity because the sense of love, attachment and belongingness are deprived.
Psychological Perspective
Psychological effects of a Disaster
distress hopelessness
intrusion/avoidance emotional effects
hatred/revenge cognitive Effects
dependence/insecurities physical Effects
grief/withdrawn/isolation interpersonal effect
guilt feeling helplessness
lack of trust
Filipinos are generally known as “matiisin”, resourceful, helpful, optimistic,
and prayerful. These characteristics are manifested in the country’s recent fight
against COVID19.Due to the National Health Emergency, Enhanced Community
Quarantine (ECQ) prevailed in the whole country. A lot of people temporarily lost
their jobs, some people stranded in different regions, repatriated OFWs were held
in different quarantine facilities in Metro Manila, and all people were restricted to
go out of their homes for months. As a result, most Filipino families would rely
on government’s help for them to get by. However, limited resources and aids
from the government make people find possible ways to survive amid the
pandemic.
These traits help a lot of Filipinos to survive the challenge of COVID19 in
the country. To people who are used to natural calamities like typhoons, flash
floods, and volcanic eruptions most citizen would find contentment with what
they have at the moment. The culture of “malalampasan din natin ‘to..” belief and
“ bahala na and Diyos” syndrome give hope to most Filipino in the midst of a
disaster. Such perspective helps a lot especially those who belong to the
marginalized sector to be hopeful and continue fighting against any challenge at
hand. Their belief that a help from someone or from God would arrive at a time
they most needed. It also helps most people survive a lot of oddities in life.
Sociocultural Perspective
Socio-Cultural Effect of Disasters
➢ change in individual roles
➢ disruption of social relationships and personal connections
Disasters affect the economic condition of a community because they reduce
local and international trade. It can also partially or totally paralyze a country’s
transportation system, just like what happened in the COVID19 pandemic. Implementation of a partial and total shut down of local business operations
result to a lot of people losing means of living.
Economic Perspective
Economic Effects of Disasters
- loss of life
- unemployment
- loss of property
loss of household articles - loss of crops
- loss of public infrastructure
Natural disasters are commonly thought to be less politically argumentative
than armed conflicts, yet a closer look shows that both the effects of a natural
disaster and the resulting distribution of humanitarian aid are profoundly linked
to politics.
Just as vulnerability to disasters is mediated by the political system of a
country, disasters can have major consequences for political stability and political
legitimacy (Hörhager, July 2017. Since agencies of government have a significant
role to play in directing disaster preparedness, prevention and recovery. Social
systems establish vulnerability to natural disasters and governments are often
considered to be responsible for the disaster effects.
Political Perspective
Political Effects of a Disaster
- People who have trust in political institution will assess the
government’s risk assessments as credible and accept their hazard
policies (Johnson 1999) - Low level of trust in public institutions therefore means that citizens
may ignore the recommendations and disregard the information
provided by these institutions (McCaffey 2004). - If individuals are confident that they will receive sufficient aid from the
government when a disaster occurs, they might not be motivated to
take measures on their own (King and Kang 2000).
The disturbing effects caused by a prevalent kind of disease or virus in an
epidemic or pandemic level is known as biological disaster.
Biological disasters can wipe out an entire population at a short span of time.
Example of it is the COVID19 pandemic which infected millions in less than a month
and left thousands of deaths in the same duration. Viral respiratory infections can
lead to anything from a mild cough that lasts a few weeks or months to full-blown
persistent wheezing or asthma (Martin, 2020). He added that when there is a severe
respiratory infection, recovery can be prolonged with a general increase in shortness
of breath— even after normal lung function returns. Since COVID19 is a respiratory
disease, the public is advised by health authorities to do health precaution to prevent
social contamination. Examples are: observing physical distancing, appropriate
washing of the hands, wearing of mask at all times once outside of one’s home, and
boosting one’s immune system.
COVID19 patients who have strong immune system can likely soon recover from the
disease. Also, those who follow the health precaution strictly have less chance of
being infected. As such, the effects of a biological disaster can be reduced.
Biological Perspective
Biological disaster affects large numbers of people within
a given community or area. Ex: Dengue.
Epidemic Level
Biological disaster affects a much large region, sometime
spanning entire continents or the globe
ex. Swine Flue
Pandemic Level
Effects of Biological Disasters
➢ loss of lives
➢ public demobilization
➢ negative economic effect
➢ unemployment
➢ hunger
