Demographics of Social Vulnerability

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In principle, social vulnerability is a component of hazard vulnerability that reflects the impacts of hazards on the ability of individuals and communities to deal with adversity in the forms associated with hazards and disasters (Lindell, Perry, & Prater, 2006 p. 155). More particularly, social vulnerability comprises the subcomponents of demographics, economics, politics, and psychology. With respect to demographics, social vulnerability is no different from its influence, because the susceptibility of any person, family, community, or society to social consequences of difficult circumstances depends substantially on demographic factors (Lindell, Perry, & Prater, 2006 p. 155). Just as physical, economic, and system vulnerability must be assessed and considered by emergency planners, so must the social vulnerability of the individuals living in at-risk communities.

Generally, the ability of communities to plan for, cope with, withstand the impact of, and recover from the physical elements of hazards and disasters depends substantially on the demographics of infrastructure development and of the existence of preparedness and response systems prior to the disaster (Lindell, Perry, & Prater, 2006 p. 160). Precisely the same is true in connection with social vulnerability to the consequences of disaster. Instead of measuring that capacity in terms of the demographics of physical structures and systems, the capacity of communities to plan for, cope with, and recover from disaster in the social realm also depends substantially on demographics as they pertain to social elements (Lindell, Perry, & Prater, 2006 p. 160).

For example, populations and communities containing large proportions of children, elderly and other frail individuals, racial and ethnic minorities, dependent poor, those with pre-existing mental illness, and members of families of individuals killed in the disaster are more vulnerable to the social consequences of disaster than other communities (Lindell, Perry, & Prater, 2006 p. 161). In this respect, the demographics of economic vulnerability plays a major interrelated role, particularly in understanding why minority racial or ethnic status increases social vulnerability. Furthermore, ethnic minority status likely corresponds to decreased ability to understand public service messages, to communicate outside of the immediate community, and to obtain the fullest possible benefit from disaster-planning and disaster-relief resources that may be available to the community. All of these factors must be reflected within any viable approach to effective emergency planning.

Reference

Lindell, M.K., Perry, R.W., and Prater, C.S. (2006). Fundamentals of Emergency

Management. Retrieved from http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/edu/fem.asp