8/10/2019 Disaster and Crisis
1/2
Disaster and crisis-
Disaster synonyms used by practitioners and experts have
included calamity and catastrophe.
Similar words are emergency and crises. Disasters are abrupt
shocks to the socio-economic and
environmental system, involving loss of life and property. The
definition that is provided by theUN/ISDR (United Nations
International Strategy for Disaster Reduction) is one of the
most
appropriate definitions: A disaster is a sudden, calamitous
event that causes serious disruption of the
functioning of a community or a society causing widespread
human, material, economic and/or
environmental losses which exceed the ability of the affected
community or society to cope using its
own level of resources.
Other sources define it as An unforeseen and often sudden event
that causes great damage,
destruction and human suffering. Though often caused by nature,
disasters can have human origins.;
The combination of hazards, vulnerability and inability to
reduce the potential negative
consequences of risk results in disaster. etc.
Crisis is is any event that is, or is expected to lead to, an
unstable and dangerous situation affecting an
individual, group, community, or whole society. Crises are
deemed to be negative changes in
thesecurity,economic,political,societal,orenvironmentalaffairs,especially
when they occur
abruptly, with little or nowarning.More loosely, it is a term
meaning 'a testing time' or an 'emergency
event'.
Crisis is the situation of a complex system(family, economy,
society) when the system functions
poorly, an immediate decision is necessary, but the causes of
the dysfunction are not known.
a) situation of a complex systemsimple systems do not enter
crises. We can speak about a crisis of
moral values, an economical or political crisis, but not a motor
crisis.
b) poor function. The system still functions, but does not break
down.
c) an immediate decision is necessary to stop the further
disintegration of the system.
d) the causes are so many, or unknown, that it is impossible to
take a rational, informed decision to
reverse the situation.
Crisis has several defining characteristics. Seeger, Sellnow,
and Ulmer[2]
say that crises have four
defining characteristics that are "specific, unexpected, and
non-routine events or series of events that
[create] high levels of uncertainty and threat or perceived
threat to an organization's high priority
goals." Thus the first three characteristics are that the event
is
1. unexpected (i.e., a surprise)
2. creates uncertainty
3. is seen as a threat to important goals
Venette[3]
argues that "crisis is a process of transformation where the old
system can no longer
be maintained." Therefore the fourth defining quality is the
need for change. If change is not
needed, the event could more accurately be described as a
failure.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Securityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politicalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Societalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_policyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affairhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warning_systemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crisis#cite_note-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crisis#cite_note-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crisis#cite_note-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crisis#cite_note-3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crisis#cite_note-3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crisis#cite_note-3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crisis#cite_note-3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crisis#cite_note-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warning_systemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affairhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_policyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Societalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politicalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security
