Browsing by Subject "Disaster"
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Item Building opportunity : disaster response and recovery after the 1773 earthquake in Antigua Guatemala(2013-08) Pajon, Mauricio A.; Deans-Smith, Susan, 1953-Building Opportunity centers on disaster response and recovery after a 7.5-magnitude earthquake destroyed the city of Antigua Guatemala, the capital of colonial Guatemala, on July 29, 1773. It also concentrates on the colonial government’s decision to relocate Antigua Guatemala and establish a new capital, New Guatemala. This dissertation examines how the cultural, economic, political, and social views of inhabitants -- bureaucrats, clerics, Indians, architects, and the poor -- shaped their reactions to the tremor. Furthermore, it contends that the migration from Antigua Guatemala to New Guatemala created socioeconomic opportunities through which individuals made strong efforts to rebuild their lives. Debates on natural catastrophe in colonial Latin America have emphasized the ability of calamity to ignite power struggles over competing ideas about emergency management. However, in addition to an analysis of such disputes, this dissertation advances new understandings of the ways in which the earthquake gave victims chances to reshape their world. How did individuals' beliefs influence their attitudes toward the cataclysm? How did the effort to create a new city forge openings for survivors to refashion their identities? This study shows that individual groups' notions of fear, hazard mitigation, history, and socioeconomics defined arguments about whether or not to move. It also demonstrates that the tragedy produced spaces in which officials, ecclesiastics, indigenous peoples, and the impoverished worked to improve their lives. In various ways, administrators and victims turned adversity into an opportunity to become disaster managers and survivors, respectively.Item Dark tourism: understanding visitor motivation at sites of death and disaster(Texas A&M University, 2004-09-30) Yuill, Stephanie MariePeople are fascinated with death and disaster. One simply has to watch traffic slow to a crawl when passing a car accident to understand this. However, this fascination goes beyond the side of a highway and enters the realm of tourism. Today, numerous sites of death and disaster attract millions of visitors from all around the world: Auschwitz-Birkenau, Anne Frank's House, Graceland, Oklahoma City, Gettysburg, Vimy Ridge, the Somme, Arlington National Cemetery. The list grows each year as exhibited by the recent creation of an apartheid museum in Johannesburg, South Africa. Due to the increasing popularity of this tourism product, a small number of academics have begun studying the phenomenon. Leading the field are Lennon and Foley who labeled it Dark Tourism, Seaton who coined the term Thanatourism, and Rojek who developed the concept of Black Spots. However, despite ongoing study, there has been a paucity in understanding what actually motivates individuals to sites of dark tourism. Yet understanding motivation is imperative, particularly given the subject and sensitivity of these sites. Some are slowly decaying, and visitors play a large role in their preservation. Subsequently, without proper management, visitor influxes can further deteriorate sites or induce friction with the locals. Knowledge then, also provides administrators the necessary tools to properly manage the varying stakeholders. Although many feel an interest in death and disaster simply stems from morbidity, the range of factors involved extend from an interest in history and heritage to education to remembrance. To begin this study, a list of possible motivations was compiled. Then, to get a better comprehension of these motivations, visitors to the Holocaust Museum Houston were surveyed as a case study. As a commodified, synthetic site of death and atrocity, the museum fits the definitions of a dark tourism site as established by lead academics. Therefore, by asking visitors to the museum what motivated them to the site, the results will hopefully give some acumen into the wants and needs of certain stakeholders. Finally, this research sought to discover if motivation at the museum could shed light on motivation to other sites of dark tourism.Item An examination of a school-based intervention for children who have experienced trauma from a natural disaster(2014-05) Powell, Tara M.; Thompson, Sanna J.; Steiker, Lori Holleran; Blanchet-Cohen, Natasha; Cubbin, Catherine; Springer, DavidNatural disasters can have a devastating impact on the social and emotional well-being of children and adolescents (Garrett et al., 2007; Kataoka, Rowan, & Hoagwood, 2009; Walsh, 2007). Exposure to disasters puts young people at risk for a number of stressors such as displacement from their homes, loss of friends, family, home and community (Abigail Gewirtz, Forgatch, & Wieling, 2008; La Greca & Silverman, 2010). They are also at a higher risk for future mental health issues related to the event including anxiety and depressive disorders (Jaycox; et al., 2010; Sapienza & Masten, 2011). While there are many interventions that address mental health symptoms, there is a gap in widely accessible prevention programming for mitigation of future mental health issues for young people affected by a disaster (Silverman et al., 2008). To address the gap in services this dissertation sought to examine the efficacy of an intervention, the Journey of Hope (JoH), an eight-session school based model designed to be delivered to the aggregate of children and adolescents affected by disasters. This three article dissertation presents the JoH through: (1) a conceptual description of the intervention; (2) a quasi-experimental waitlist control study and; (3) a qualitative case study. Findings from the quantitative and qualitative studies indicate that after participation in the JoH, participants had an increase in protective factors such as positive coping skills, pro-social behaviors, and affect regulation. The qualitative case study also indicated that children learned about disaster related issues such as grief, anger, and peer victimization. Future research should examine the longitudinal impact of the intervention through larger samples, different geographical and cultural contexts, and with sensitive measurement instruments.Item Historic preservation and disaster resilience : flooding in Santiago de Querétaro, Mexico(2015-05) Lule-Hurtado, Gibrán N.; Holleran, Michael; Ibarra-Sevilla, BenjamínSantiago de Querétaro is a UNESCO World Heritage City in central Mexico experiencing exacerbating rates of flooding in its historic center due to increased uphill urbanization overwhelming the aging drainage infrastructure. Historic districts are important economic drivers and shrines of heritage that should be considered when planning for disaster resiliency. This Report explores flood mitigation considerations for historic structures and districts, identifying those best suited for Querétaro and can be implemented at the parcel, district, or public administrative levels.Item A Texas town with more problems and few answers : two years after a deadly chemical explosion, West finds closure almost impossible(2015-05) Nedorostova, Andrea; Dahlby, Tracy; Minutaglio, BillThe story of West is a saga of a small Texas town seeking closure--and not getting it. Despite an ongoing, two-year-long investigation, the fertilizer plant explosion remains an unsolved mystery. The disaster continues in a form of medical, emotional and financial problems including unresolved insurance claims and lawsuits. Will people in West ever find closure?