Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-24hb2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-28T05:07:48.777Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 17 - Shared Social Identity in Emergencies, Disasters and Conflicts

from Section 3 - Sourcing

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 June 2019

Richard Williams
Affiliation:
University of South Wales
Verity Kemp
Affiliation:
Healthplanning Ltd.
S. Alexander Haslam
Affiliation:
University of Queensland
Catherine Haslam
Affiliation:
University of Queensland
Kamaldeep S. Bhui
Affiliation:
Queen Mary University of London
Susan Bailey
Affiliation:
Centre for Mental Health
Daniel Maughan
Affiliation:
Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust
Get access

Summary

This chapter builds on previous chapters, on crowds (Chapter 15) and emergencies and disasters (Chapter 16), to show the relationship between the two. It describes a programme of research that has examined the extent to which shared social identity determines collective behaviour in emergencies and disasters.

We recognise that engagement and action by the public is necessary when communities and agencies in them plan for emergencies. The increased threat of major incidents, disasters and terrorist attacks means that professional responders will not always be in place in time or in sufficient number to help (Cole et al., 2011; see Chapter 16).

The social identity approach is relevant here because it explains the conditions under which crowds and groups of people can operate as psychological communities that support their members in times of danger and stress. This chapter also describes how social identity principles have been applied to understanding informal psychosocial support among some refugees of war.

Type
Chapter
Information
Social Scaffolding
Applying the Lessons of Contemporary Social Science to Health and Healthcare
, pp. 154 - 164
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alfadhli, K. & Drury, J. (2017). Psychosocial support among Syrian refugees in Jordan: An ethnographic exploration of the role of shared identity. Paper presented at 18th General Meeting of the EASP, Granada, Spain, July.Google Scholar
Alfadhli, K. & Drury, J. (2018a). A typology of secondary stressors among refugees of conflict in the Middle East: The case of Syrian refugees in Jordan. PLoS Currents Disasters, 10 May; doi: 10.1371/currents.dis.4bd3e6437bff47b33ddb9f73cb72f3d8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alfadhli, K. & Drury, J. (2018b). The role of shared social identity in mutual support among refugees of conflict: An ethnographic study of Syrian refugees in Jordan. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 28; doi: 10.1002/casp.2346.Google Scholar
Bendersky, J. (2007). ‘Panic’: The impact of Le Bon’s crowd psychology on US military thought. Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, 43: 257283.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowlby, J. (2012). The Making and Breaking of Affectional Bonds. London: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chertkoff, J. M. & Kushigian, R. H. (1999). Don’t Panic: The Psychology of Emergency Egress and Ingress. Westport, CT: Praeger.Google Scholar
Clarke, L. (2002). Panic: Myth or reality? Contexts 1: 2126.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cole, J., Walters, M. & Lynch, M. (2011). Part of the solution, not the problem: The crowd’s role in emergency response. Contemporary Social Science, 6: 361375.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Connell, R. (2001). Collective Behavior in the September 11, 2001 Evacuation of the World Trade Center. University of Delaware, Disaster Research Center. Preliminary paper #313.Google Scholar
Donald, I. & Canter, D. (1992). Intentionality and fatality during the King’s Cross underground fire. European Journal of Social Psychology, 22: 203218.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drury, J., Brown, R., González, R. & Miranda, D. (2016). Emergent social identity and observing social support predict social support provided by survivors in a disaster: Solidarity in the 2010 Chile earthquake. European Journal of Social Psychology, 46: 209223.Google Scholar
Drury, J., Cocking, C. & Reicher, S. (2009a). Everyone for themselves? A comparative study of crowd solidarity among emergency survivors. British Journal of Social Psychology, 48: 487506.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Drury, J., Cocking, C. & Reicher, S. (2009b). The nature of collective resilience: Survivor reactions to the 2005 London bombings. International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters, 27: 6695.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drury, J., Cocking, C., Reicher, S. et al. (2009c). Cooperation versus competition in a mass emergency evacuation: A new laboratory simulation and a new theoretical model. Behavior Research Methods, 41: 957970.Google Scholar
Fritz, C. E. & Williams, H. B. (1957). The human being in disasters: A research perspective. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 309: 4251.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Janis, I. (1951). Air War and Emotional Stress. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Johnson, N. R. (1987). Panic at ‘The Who concert stampede’: An empirical assessment. Social Problems, 34: 362373.Google Scholar
Johnson, N. R. (1988). Fire in a crowded theatre: A descriptive investigation of the emergence of panic. International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters, 6: 726.Google Scholar
Lock, S., Rubin, G. J., Murray, V. et al. (2012). Secondary stressors and extreme events and disasters: A systematic review of primary research from 2010–2011. PLoS Currents Disasters, 29 October; doi: 10.1371/currents.dis.a9b76fed1b2dd5c5bfcfc13c87a2f24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mawson, A. (2007). Mass Panic and Social Attachment: The Dynamics of Human Behaviour. Aldershot: Ashgate.Google Scholar
Ntontis, E., Drury, J., Amlôt, R., Rubin, G. J & Williams, R. (2017). Emergent social identities in a flood: Implications for community psychosocial resilience. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 26 July: 112; https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.2329.Google Scholar
Quarantelli, E. L. (1960). Images of withdrawal behaviour in disasters: Some basic misconceptions. Social Problems, 8: 6879.Google Scholar
Reicher, S. D. (1984). The St. Pauls’ riot: An explanation of the limits of crowd action in terms of a social identity model. European Journal of Social Psychology, 14: 121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shultz, J. M. (2014). Perspectives on disaster public health and disaster behavioral health integration. Disaster Health, 2: 6974.Google Scholar
Sime, J. D. (1983). Affiliative behavior during escape to building exits. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 3: 2141.Google Scholar
Turner, J. C. (1981). The experimental social psychology of intergroup behaviour. In Turner, J. C. & Giles, H., editors, Intergroup Behaviour. Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 66101.Google Scholar
Turner, J. C., Hogg, M. A., Oakes, P. J., Reicher, S. D. & Wetherell, M. C. (1987). Rediscovering the Social Group: A Self-Categorization Theory. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
UNHCR (2016). UNHCR Syria regional refugee response 2016. See https://data2.unhcr.org/en/situations/syria.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×