Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Evaluation Of A Group-Based Resilience Intervention For Typhoon Haiyan Survivors, Ma. Regina Hechanova, Pia Anna P. Ramos, Lynn Waelde

Psychology Department Faculty Publications

This study evaluated the impact of Katatagan, a culturally adapted, group-based, and mindfulness-informed resilience intervention developed for disaster survivors in the Philippines. The intervention aimed to teach six adaptive coping skills: harnessing strengths, managing physical reactions, managing thoughts and emotions, seeking solutions and support, identifying positive activities, and planning for the future. Pre- and post-intervention assessments were conducted with 163 Typhoon Haiyan survivors. Six-month follow-up assessments were obtained for 37 participants. Pre- and post-results showed improvements in participants’ self-efficacy on all six coping skills. The 6-month follow-up revealed significant improvements in four of the six coping skills. Focus group discussions …

Local Christian Churches And Disaster Preparedness: Are They Prepared?, Andrew J. Smith

Theses and Dissertations from 2016

Many religious institutions respond to global crises. These faith-based organizations may be small, independent institutions or belong to a larger corporate body. Local mainline Christian churches from mainline denominations including Lutheran, Presbyterian, Catholic, and United Methodist follow the latter model. As members of the larger corporate faith organization, these local churches have access to well-organized and established disaster response functional units. At the corporate level, these religious institutions have come together as collaborative partners in disaster response and recovery as members of the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters (NVOAD). While disaster planning, preparedness, response and recovery activities may be …

Responding To Train Derailments Of Crude Oil Cargos And The Use Of Nims/Ice, Laura Hartline Weems

Theses and Dissertations from 2016

Derailments of freight trains carrying bulk cargo are not a new phenomenon in the United States; they have occurred since the 19th century when the first shipment made its way across the nation. However, despite sweeping changes in the past decade to the structure of emergency management in the United States, how the railroads have responded to derailments has not changed. The railroad culture is to operate lean, meaning few people are needed to transport large quantities of cargos and commodities. When a derailment occurs, the culture does not change, and railroads respond with typically few of their own personnel …

Measuring The Financial Shocks Of Natural Disasters: A Panel Study Of U.S. States, Qing Miao, Yilin Hou, Michael Abrigo

Center for Policy Research

This paper employs panel vector autoregression to examine the dynamic fiscal response to disaster shocks. With 50-state, 1970-2013 panel data of state government finance and disaster damage, we estimate disaster impacts on revenue, expenditure, debt issuance, and intergovernmental transfers. We find that following a disaster, states increase program expenditure, but receive more federal transfers. Disasters have limited impact on total tax revenues but amplify fluctuations in sales, income, and property tax revenues. Our findings suggest that disaster-induced additional spending is largely financed through federal transfers, which include not only disaster relief funds but also non-disaster-related public welfare aids.

The Capacity-Building Support Activities Of The Integrated Support Center For Nuclear Nonproliferation And Nuclear Security Of The Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Yosuke Naoi, Kalman A. Robertson, Naoko Noro

International Journal of Nuclear Security

International cooperation is essential to support states in building the human resources necessary for maintaining and strengthening nuclear security. As the nation’s only comprehensive nuclear research and development institute, the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has long-standing experience developing and operating nuclear technology in all steps of the fuel cycle. The Integrated Support Center for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Nuclear Security (ISCN) was established within the JAEA in December 2010 as Japan’s Center of Excellence for nuclear security. The ISCN provides assistance with capacity building to states throughout Asia and some other regions. The objective of this article is to describe …

The Economics Of Adaptation To Climate Change In Coasts And Oceans: Literature Review, Policy Implications And Research Agenda, Charles S. Colgan

Journal of Ocean and Coastal Economics

Sea level rise and other effects of climate change on oceans and coasts around the world are major reasons to halt the emissions of greenhouse gases to the maximum extent. But historical emissions and sea level rise have already begun so steps to adapt to a world where shorelines, coastal populations, and economies could be dramatically altered are now essential. This presents significant economic challenges in four areas. (1) Large expenditures for adaptation steps may be required but the extent of sea level rise and thus the expenditures are unknowable at this point. Traditional methods for comparing benefits and costs …

Disaster Capitalism: Empirical Evidence From Latin America And The Caribbean, Ransford F. Edwards Jr.

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Natural disasters are uniquely transformative events. They can drastically transform physical terrain and the lives of those unfortunate enough to be caught in their wrath. However, natural disasters also provide an opportunity to reflect on past failures and, at times, a clean slate to correct those shortcomings. This project takes a political economic approach and recognizes natural disasters as occasions for agenda-setting on behalf of transnational commercial enterprises and market-oriented policy elites. These reformers often use the post-disaster policy space to articulate long-term development strategies based on market fundamentalism, and, more importantly, advance a set of policies consistent with their …

Maxml: Coordinating Mine Action With Xml Technologies, Dionysia Kontotasiou, Olivier Cottray

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The Mine Action XML (maXML) is an Extensible Markup Language (XML) schema developed by the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD). It aims to standardize data management and data exchange among actors in the mine action community, which includes individuals and groups involved in any aspect of addressing the landmine and explosive remnants of war (ERW) contamination. In this field, data exchange is mostly manual and often has to deal with chaotic environments. The goal of maXML is to contribute to the automatization of many of these processes, saving valuable time for staff in the field and improving the …

Special Report: Solomon Islands’ Explosive Legacy, Mette Eliseussen, John Rodsted

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The Solomon Islands encompass over 900 islands scattered across the ocean north of Australia and east of Papua New Guinea. Many of the 500,000 inhabitants still live with unknown quantities of explosive remnants of war (ERW) left behind from combat between Japan and the United States during World War II. Unexploded ordnance (UXO) of both U.S. and Japanese origin remains on some of the nation’s atolls. Since the end of the war, sporadic clearance was undertaken, including through Operation Render Safe, a joint clearance program between Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. There have also …

Explosive Remnants Of War Contamination Response In Libya, Damir Djakovic, Katarina Cvikl Balić

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Abu Grain is a town located 106 km (66 mi) east of Misrata and 138 km (86 mi) west of Sirte with an estimated population of 2,000 inhabitants. The town is known for its strategic road intersection connecting the Mediterranean cities of Misrata and Sirte with the desert district of Jufra. Between February and March 2016, Abu Grain’s population fled as Islamic State (IS) group forces advanced into town in an attempt to expand control toward the west of its stronghold in Sirte. According to the Libyan Red Crescent, Abu Grain’s inhabitants mostly fled to Bani Walid, Misrata, and Tripoli.

From The Director, Ken Rutherford

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Here at CISR, our team is busy planning the 13th Senior Managers’ Course (SMC), which will take place in Biograd na Moru, Croatia, from 20 March to 7 April 2017. With the help of our local partner, the Croatian Mine Action Centre, CISR will implement a course designed specifically to address the needs of senior managers working in greater Southeast Europe as the region’s mine action programs undergo planned transitions. The course in Croatia will be our third regional SMC (Tajikistan in 2014 and Vietnam in 2015) since we began implementing the regional format in 2014; we hope to facilitate …

The Role Of Research In Mine Action: A Response To Gasser, Ian Mclean, Rebecca Sargisson

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Some years ago, a businessman came to me and said that he would like to start commercially farming lobsters, something that had not been attempted at the time. His key question was, “How long will the development research take?”

“I would think two to four years before a scaling-up exercise to make it commercially viable,” I answered.

Looking genuinely surprised he replied, “Really! I was thinking it should take about two weeks.”

This anecdote portrays a problem that emerges in almost every area of human enterprise. Those-who-do want and need to do right now. Those-who-create need time to design, build, …

The Journal Of Conventional Weapons Destruction Issue 20.3 (2016), Cisr Jmu

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Feature: SA/LW and CWD | Spotlight: Libya | Special Report: Solomon Islands’ Explosive Legacy | Plus: Editorial, Field Notes, Research and Development

Gendered Vulnerabilities To Small Arms In South Central Somalia, Abigail Jones, Nicola Sandhu, Lucas Musetti

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Somalia is a very young nation demographically; estimates place half the population under the age of 14 and less than five percent over the age of 60. A large portion of the population grew up during incredible civil instability and violence, making exposure to armed violence an ever-present prospect. Further, the presence of more than one million displaced persons and refugees exacerbates the difficulties of protecting vulnerable groups from violence.

Adapting The Erw Community To Combat Ied Threats, Brad Alford, Michael Kennedy

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

In Iraq and other regions soon to be liberated from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), recovery and stability efforts are hindered by improvised explosive devices (IED), which threaten civilians returning home and/or assisting with reconstruction. According to Relief Web, the Anbar Provincial Council “discourage[d] the premature return of internally displaced persons (IDP) to Fallujah due to the remaining IEDs left behind by the Islamic state of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) militants.”This threat, coupled with the consequences of an asymmetrical conflict, has changed the operating environments encountered by organizations that respond to explosive remnants of war (ERW). …

Working From A Distance In War-Affected Libya, Nikolaj Søndergaard

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

A unique partnership between DanChurchAid (DCA) and Lebanese authorities facilitates explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) training for Libyan authorities, who can now start their own national EOD teams and begin the clearance process.

Effectiveness And Impact Of Undp Mine Action Support: Lessons Learned, Charles Downs, Alan Fox

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has supported mine action in more than 40 countries since its first involvement in Cambodia in 1992. UNDP support generally focuses on the development of national mine action management capacities. In early 2016, the Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) of UNDP concluded the first global evaluation of the results of UNDP support in mine action, with particular attention to its effectiveness and impact. The evaluation reviewed documentation relating to all national, UNDP-supported mine action programs, in-depth desk reviews of support to 14 countries, and background for field case studies of three national programs (Laos, Mozambique, …

Endnotes Issue 20.3, Cisr Jmu

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Endnotes Issue 20.3

Rbm And Theories Of Change, Russell Gasser

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

“Give me your money; I’m busy doing things” is not the most convincing fundraising appeal. Instead, “Look at the difference our program has made to the lives of the people that were helped” is far more likely to get a positive response. The overall purpose of mine action is to improve people’s lives and livelihoods, to reduce casualties, and increase compliance with political commitments like the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (APMBC). Although this is widely known, standard reporting excessively includes information on how many people received risk education, how many square meters of land were cleared, or how many people …

Emerging Patterns Of Erw Injuries In Laos, Stacey Pizzino, Colette Mcinerney, Jo Durham

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The year 2016 marks the beginning of a new era for international development, with the adoption of seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) that will drive global development efforts until 2030. In post-conflict countries, humanitarian mine action will be an important enabler in achieving a number of SDGs, including goal 3: “ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.” Of particular relevance is target 3.9 of the SDGs, which specifies the need to reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from soil pollution and contamination. At present this relates primarily to indoor and outdoor air pollution. However, since …

Commonwealth Center For Recurrent Flooding Resiliency: An Update, Morris Foster, John Wells

Commonwealth Center for Recurrent Flooding Resiliency (CCRFR): Presentations

October 17th, 2016 Update to Joint Subcommittee on Coastal Flooding. PDF of powerpoint presentation.

A Moveable Beast: Subjective Influence Of Human-Animal Relationships On Risk Perception, And Risk Behaviour During Bushfire Threat, Joshua L. Trigg, Kirrilly Thompson, Bradley Smith, Pauleen Bennett

The Qualitative Report

This article examines how human-animal connections influence risk perception and behaviour in companion animal guardians exposed to bushfire threat in Australia. Although the objective role of psychological bonds with companion animals is well accepted by researchers, subjective interpretations of these bonds by animal guardians are relatively underexamined in this context. We argue that the ways in which connections with pets and other animals are represented influences different forms of safety-risk perception and behaviour when managing animals’ safety in the face of disaster threat. Thematic analysis of 21 semi-structured interviews with South Australian residents in bushfire-affected areas supported the role of …

Protecting The Most Vulnerable, Joshua G. Behr

VMASC Publications

No abstract provided.

Disaster Risk Management In Business Education: Setting The Tone, Juan Pablo Sarmiento

DRR Faculty Publications

Looking for windows of opportunity to mainstream disaster risk management within business education, in 2015, the United Nations Office for Disaster Reduction’s (UNISDR) Private Sector Alliance for Disaster Resilient Societies (ARISE), partnered with Florida International University’s Extreme Events Institute (FIU-EEI) and 12 international leading business schools. This partnership began with a call for White Papers to propose innovative approaches to integrate cutting edge disaster management content into business education programs and other academic offerings, based on seven themes or niches identified: (1) Strategic Investment and Financial Decisions; (2) Generating Business Value; (3) Sustainable Management; (4) Business Ethics and Social Responsibility; …

Disastrous Measures: Conceptualizing And Measuring Disaster Risk Reduction, Thomas Jamieson

Emergency Services Faculty Publications

Despite the large amount of research into disaster risk reduction [DRR], there remain significant difficulties in attempting to measure the impact of these policies. In particular, an urgent priority is the need to produce a theoretical framework for researchers and practitioners to enable the comparative assessment of the success of DRR policies. The measurement of these policies is unsatisfactory, creating a situation where it is almost impossible to assess how well the resources committed to these policies translate to improving DRR in at-risk communities. This article proposes an innovative approach to the measurement of DRR through a minimal procedural operationalization …

Friends Of Musselman Library Newsletter Fall 2016, Musselman Library

Friends of Musselman Library Newsletter

From the Dean (Robin Wagner)

Library Exhibits

GettDigital: Sports Reels

Research Reflections: The Gettysburg Superstar (Devin McKinney)

Remembering 9/12

Will Power: 400 Years After the Bard

Treasure Island (Robin Wagner)

Margin of Error

A Call to Activism in the Summer of '65 (Richard Hutch '67)

Digital Scholarship: The New Frontier (Julia Wall '19, Lauren White '18, Keira Koch '19)

Scrapbooks and Photo Albums: Snapshots of History (Clara A. Baker '30)

Soldiers' Scrapbooks (Laura Bergin '17)

A Book of Dreams (Alexa Schreier)

Who Do You Think You Are? (Timothy Shannon)

From Professor-Student to Collaborators (Jesse Siegel '16)

The Mysterious Easel Monument …

China And Africa’S Peace And Security Agenda: The Burgeoning Appetite, Oita Etyang, Simon Oswan Panyako

Journal of African Conflicts and Peace Studies

China and Africa have had contacts since time immemorial. It is, however, in the last two decades that China vastly increased its engagement with Africa, following the first Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) that took place in 2000 and the Beijing Summit held in 2006. China has skillfully utilized its international strategy of multipolarity and non-interference to champion its economic interests as well as its hegemonic quest. It is undeniable that China has heavily invested in Africa through Foreign Direct Investments (FDI), and infrastructure development. China has also increased its appetite on matters peace and security. …

Brief Discussion On Emergency Towing In Salvage Operation, Kunquan Cao

Maritime Safety & Environment Management Dissertations (Dalian)

No abstract provided.

Discussion On Shipping Dangerous Goods Accidents Rescue Of China, Jianhua Ruan

Maritime Safety & Environment Management Dissertations (Dalian)

No abstract provided.

Study On The Impact And Countermeasures Of Ship Oil Pollution In Port Caofeidian, Dejin Yang

Maritime Safety & Environment Management Dissertations (Dalian)

No abstract provided.