Victims Of Crisis Research Articles

A bayesian approach for the continuous monitoring of the prediction of the physiological evolution of a crisis victim: A decision support system

Catastrophic events like earthquakes demand innovative tools for crisis management. Mathematical modeling and decision support systems (DSSs) have proved crucial for understanding, predicting and mitigating disaster impact. The quantification of complex phenomena through probabilistic models, to estimate the likelihood of events, provides actionable insights that are essential for disaster risk reduction (DRR).The present work stems from research conducted within the framework of the Search & Rescue (S&R) project (H2020-SU-SEC-2019), in particular from the development of the PHYSIO DSS module, the medical component of the S&R Decision Support System (DSS). The PHYSIO DSS focuses on predicting the physiological evolution of crisis victims: using a Bayesian approach, it incorporates real-time field observations to forecast patient conditions. This enables the prediction of the evolution of physiological compensation, allowing efficient resource allocation and timely interventions. By providing real-time insights into victim severity, PHYSIO DSS empowers medical personnel to prioritize treatment, potentially saving lives. Its adaptability allows integration into different platforms, from crisis management systems to apps to personal health devices.This tool has the potential to substantially enhance emergency response capability and overall disaster resilience by offering real-time, data-driven decision support.

All the news that is fit to print? Reporting on a victim's character during a crisis

AbstractUsing the United Airlines “bumpgate” crisis as example, this research analyses how reporting of irrelevant information on a crisis victim's bad character impacts on empathy towards the victim, the victim's reputation as well as the reputation of the news medium that published the information. A one‐factorial experiment was conducted with two conditions manipulating the reporting on the crisis victim's character plus a control condition. Respondents were 245 online‐panel participants from the UK. The findings show that when journalists violate the code of ethics by reporting irrelevant negative information on the character of a crisis victim, they harm not only the reputation of the victim, but also that of their news organization. This study contributes to the scarce research on the impact of media reporting during a crisis on victims of the crisis and on the reputation of the newspaper. Journalists must be aware that violating the journalistic code of ethics by reporting on irrelevant negative characteristics of a victim is not only detrimental for the victim but can also significantly hurt the reputation of their organization.

The phenomenology of the causes of youth tendency to emerging spirituality (case study: Shiraz)

The phenomenon of emerging spiritualities has a social and cultural nature and is the result of structural changes in the modern world and actors. To study this phenomenon, while paying attention to cultural, social and historical contexts and theirs processes and considering aspects and macro social and cultural conditions, it is necessary to pay attention to the intentions, thoughts and mindsets of actors. Therefore, in this study, we seek to explore the causes of the tendency of youth to new spiritualities behind the lived experience of youth who have been involved in this social phenomenon. The method of this research is qualitative and its strategy is phenomenological. Semi-structured interview technique has been used to collect data. The participants were selected by using purposive sampling method from among the youth members of Masnavi reading, meditation and mysticism groups who have experienced new spiritualities in the last 5 to 15 years. The seven-step method of Klaizi (1978) was used to analyze the data and extract the main and secondary themes. Findings showed that instrumentalism (with the sub-theme of attraction) and teleology (with the sub-themes of lifestyle, meaning search, crisis victims) are among the causes of youth tendency to new spiritualities.

Which crisis strategies are (expectedly) effective among SMEs during COVID-19?

We investigate COVID-19 as a disabling and an enabling mechanism for small and mid-size enterprises (SMEs), particularly how SMEs’ crisis strategies might help them through the crisis. SMEs can follow a retrenchment strategy, a persevering strategy, or an innovation strategy, and they can do so narrowly or broadly. Using a representative sample of Danish SMEs, we test how crisis strategies are associated with turnover expectations. We find distinct differences in how effective crisis strategies are linked to turnover expectations, depending on how the crisis affected the SMEs in the first place (i.e., the SMEs were crisis victims, crisis immunes, or crisis exploiters).

Cognitive heuristics and risk evaluation in crisis fraud

PurposeThe recent COVID-19 crisis has been followed by an epidemic of fraud. This study aims to evaluate cases of COVID-19-related fraud to identify cognitive heuristics that influence decision-making under the pressure of crisis conditions.Design/methodology/approachAn analysis of fraud advisories and cases relating to COVID-19 is conducted and matched against various types of cognitive heuristics to explain their influence on victims of crisis fraud.FindingsThe affect, availability, cue-familiarity, representativeness and scarcity heuristics are identified and explained to have a substantial influence on risk evaluations of crisis fraud.Originality/valueThe findings from this study can help individuals avoid fraud victimisation by helping them understand psychological vulnerabilities that they may be unaware of under the pressure of crisis conditions.

Climate Crises and the Creation of ‘Undeserving’ Victims

This paper explores how advanced liberal democracies respond to climate migrants in ways that reflect colonial logics and practices. With a focus on the Pacific, it reflects on three constructions of climate crisis victims. First, as savages—those incapable of adapting or thriving under catastrophic environmental threats and who need to be saved by ‘the West’. Secondly, as threats—the hordes who will threaten white civilization and who must be sorted, excluded, detained and deported. Thirdly, as ‘non-ideal’ victims—those undeserving of full legal protections but who may survive under hostile conditions in receiving states. These political and policy responses create systemic harms and injustice for those who struggle under or must flee environmental degradation, and they function to ensure that those most to blame for climate crises are prioritized as having least responsibility to take action. The paper concludes with consideration of socially just responses to those most affected from climate harms.

Hospitality to Others Rooted in an Ecclesiology of the Baptized People of God

[Figure: see text] If the Church is considered to be an assembly of the baptized people of Christ’s body, then that structure necessarily compels members of that body to be mindful of the plight of the displaced: refugees, immigrants, sojourners, trafficked people, strangers, victims of crisis, marginalized migrants, and, in fact, anyone seeking justice and safety. In this context, there is a biblical imperative to action, compelling baptized people to show justice and mercy in times of crises. This imperative often gets overlooked, especially in recent days with the migrant crises created by the Trump administration with respect to the southern US border. This article maps out different global/historical situations of immigrant crises to provide a context for the current situation. It offers background on the contempt shown by the US president’s migrant policy and then correlates and advances biblical imperatives, especially as given by the New Testament and along Pauline lines. It argues for spelling out a reminder: government is an agent of God in the natural law order. And, from a Christian perspective, Church leaders and baptized people of God have an obligation to live out a call to love in the form of an ecclesiology of hospitality. That is, God’s covenant with the baptized people implies an enabling directive to the Church, its leaders, and the body of Christ to advocate for migrants and victims amid the escalating crises created by government policies that show contempt for migrants and their families.

Post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms in pregnant Australian Indigenous women residing in rural and remote New South Wales: A cross-sectional descriptive study.

Pregnancy can be a stressful time for many women. There is ample evidence of numerous physical and mental health inequities for Indigenous Australians. For those Indigenous women who are pregnant, it is established that there is a higher incidence of poor physical perinatal outcomes when compared with non-Indigenous Australians. However, little evidence exists that examines stressful events and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in pregnant women who are members of this community. To quantify the rates of stressful events and PTSD symptoms in pregnant Indigenous women. One hundred and fifty rural and remote Indigenous women were invited to complete a survey during each trimester of their pregnancy. The survey measures were the stressful life events and the Impact of Events Scale. Extremely high rates of PTSD symptoms were reported by participants. Approximately 40% of this group exhibited PTSD symptoms during their pregnancy with mean score 33.38 (SD=14.37) significantly higher than a study of European victims of crisis, including terrorism attacks (20.6, SD=18.5). The extreme levels of PTSD symptoms found in the women participating in this study are likely to result in negative implications for both mother and infant. An urgent response must be mounted at government, health, community development and research levels to address these findings. Immediate attention needs to focus on the development of interventions to address thehighlevels of PTSD symptoms that pregnant Australian Indigenous womenexperience.

The limits of hospitality: coping strategies among displaced Syrians in Lebanon

Based on qualitative fieldwork in the Sunni village of Bebnine, located between Tripoli and the northern Syrian border, this paper explores how displaced Syrians adjust to life in Lebanon under the threat and actuality of violence. The marginalised refugees do not only appear as passive victims of crisis but draw on a diverse repertoire of coping strategies to deal with displacement and dispossession. Self-settled Syrians have exploited social networks, savings, aid, education and work opportunities to create a new livelihood system for themselves. Nevertheless, everyday life in Lebanon is not conceptualised as a safe zone. Syrian refugees are increasingly being used as scapegoats for the poor economy and political challenges in the country. While practices of hospitality towards the Syrian refugees were widespread, ambivalent feelings and prejudice frequently surfaced. Refugees expressed concern that the Syrian civil war would escalate into further sectarian violence in Lebanon, pushing the country closer to war.

Should violence services be integrated within abortion care? A UK situation analysis

The prevalence of violence against women worldwide raises the question of the desirability and feasibility of integrating interpersonal violence (IPV) services within abortion care. By examining present services and context in an Inner London borough in the UK, this situation analysis explored the hypothesis that an established, integrated, health-based service (comprising raised awareness, staff training in routine IPV enquiry and referral to a community-based in-reach IPV service) would be transferable into abortion services. Four sources of qualitative data investigated views on integrating services: key stakeholder in-depth interviews including with providers of abortion and IPV services and commissioners and IPV survivors with past abortion service use (3 user, 15 provider); qualitative analysis of the open-ended part of a survey of current abortion service users with and without experience of IPV; feedback from an interactive workshop and data from field observations. While there was consensus among all informants that women experiencing IPV and seeking abortion have unidentified, unaddressed needs, how any intervention might be organised to address these needs was contested; thus questions remain about whether, when and how to raise the topic of IPV and what to offer. Two major anxieties surfaced: a practical concern in terms of interrupting a streamlined abortion service that suits the majority of staff and patients, and a conceptual concern about risk of stigmatising abortion seekers as ‘victims in crisis’. Thus, our findings indicate: when integrating IPV interventions into abortion services, local context, the integrity of separate pathways, and women’s safety and agency must be considered, especially when abortion rights are under attack. Novel approaches are required and should be researched.

Stigmatized service workers in crisis: mitigating the effects of negative media

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how a crisis affects public attitudes toward stigmatized service workers (SSWs) who are blamed by the media for the event. Design/methodology/approach – Hypotheses grounded in two theories, crisis communication and empathic concern, are tested using two experimental design studies of 180 and 107 adult respondents. Findings – The effects of both empathy (positive) and anger (negative) on attitudes toward the SSWs involved in crisis are mediated by controllability of attribution of crisis. Empathic concern mitigates negative public attitudes toward stigmatized workers and appears to remove the effect of anger but only when the crisis severity is not too high. In a severe crisis both empathy and anger are important predictors of public response. Research limitations/implications – Boundary conditions in terms of severity, nature and victim of crisis and media framing need to be investigated. Practical implications – Proactive crisis management practice is required by professional associations of SSW. Eliciting empathy and paying attention to prior crisis history and professional reputation offers scope to quell public anger and desire for punishment. Social implications – The attrition rates of socially stigmatized workers following crisis events have profound social and financial costs to society. This study sets a foundation for substantive managerial change in crisis response, and how the perception of socially stigmatized workers, is managed. Originality/value – This study is the first to examine the voracity of two theories which provide informed but different insights to public response to service workers in crisis.

Global economic crisis and corruption

We study the effects of the 2008–2009 global economic crisis on the household experience of bribing public officials. The data come from the Life in Transition-2 survey, conducted in 2010 in 30 post-socialist economies of Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. We find that households hit by crisis are more likely to bribe and, among people who bribe, crisis victims bribe a wider range of public officials than non-victims. The crisis victims are also more likely to pay bribes because public officials ask them to do so and less likely because of gratitude. The link between crisis and bribery is stronger in the poorest countries of the region. Our findings support the conjecture that public officials misuse sensitive information about crisis victims to inform bribe extortion decisions.

The impact of a natural disaster on altruistic behaviour and crime.

Institutional altruism in the form of a public-sector intervention and support for victims and social altruism generated by mutual aid and solidarity among citizens constitute a coming together in a crisis. This coming together and mutual support precipitate a decrease in crime rates during such an event. This paper presents an analysis of daily fluctuations in crime during the prolonged ice storms in Quebec, Canada, in January 1998 that provoked an electrical blackout. Of particular interest are the principal crisis-related influences on daily crime patterns. A first series of analyses examines the impact of altruistic public-sector mobilisation on crime. A significant decline in property crime rates was noticed when cheques were distributed to crisis victims in financial need in Montérégie, and hence they were attributable to public intervention (institutional altruism). Moreover, the rate of social altruism (financial donations), which was more substantial in adjoining rather than distant regions, was inversely proportional to crime rates.

Management of the mass casualty from the 2001 Jos crisis

We report our experience in the hospital management of mass casualty following the Jos civil crisis of 2001. A retrospective analysis of the records of patients managed in the Jos civil crisis of September 2001, in Plateau State, Nigeria. Information extracted included demographic data of patients, mechanisms of injury, nature and site of injury, treatment modalities and outcome of care. A total of 463 crisis victims presented over a 5 day period. Out of these, the records of 389 (84.0%) were available and analyzed. There were 348 (89.5%) males and 41 females (10.5%) aged between 3 weeks and 70 years, with a median age of 26 years. Most common mechanisms of injury were gunshot in 176 patients (45.2%) and blunt injuries from clubs and sticks in 140 patients (36.0%). Debridement with or without suturing was the most common surgical procedure, performed in 128 patients (33%) followed by exploratory laparotomy in 27 (6.9%) patients. Complications were documented in 55 patients (14.1%) and there were 16 hospital deaths (4.1% mortality). Challenges included exhaustion of supplies, poor communication and security threats both within the hospital and outside. Most patients reaching the hospital alive had injuries that did not require lifesaving interventions. Institutional preparedness plan would enable the hospital to have an organized approach to care, with better chances of success. More effective means of containing crises should be employed to reduce the attendant casualty rate.

Best practices as an assessment for crisis communication

PurposeThis study aims to use the now‐classic case study of American Red Cross's response to Hurricane Katrina to demonstrate the utility of the best practices in risk and crisis communication as an assessment tool.Design/methodology/approachQualitative case study methodology is used to provide a thick description of the case based on media analysis and internal and external evaluations. The best practices in risk and crisis communication are then used to assess Red Cross's response efforts.FindingsThis study provides contextual support for the best practices in risk and crisis communication and demonstrates their usefulness in post‐crisis assessment. Lessons learned specific to the case outline the importance of: maintaining flexibility in the crisis plan; developing a crisis communication protocol with partners; considering the affects of response procedures on the emotional and psychological health of crisis victims; and establishing connections with diverse populations and the communities in which the organization works.Practical implicationsAs an assessment tool in the post‐crisis stage, the best practices provide an outline for organizations to question whether their planning was sufficient and their strategies and responses met the needs of their stakeholders.Originality/valueThis study provides reason for continuing to develop, study, and apply best practices in risk and crisis communication across organizations and industries. By using the best practices as an assessment tool post‐crisis, organizations can look at each specific practice through the lens of the crisis to stimulate organizational learning.

The Voice of Victims: Positive Response to a Natural Disaster Crisis

In the current study the authors investigate victims' response to a natural disaster crisis event. Crisis communication research has often considered organizations, but neglected the voice of the victims. Similarly, most crisis research emphasizes the negative outcomes of crisis. Positive communication research and sensemaking theory provide insight into the experiences of crisis victims. Twenty-nine individuals were interviewed from one community in Western Kentucky following a massive ice storm that occurred during January 2009. The remembering emphasis of sensemaking was salient in this study. Victims remembered their overall experience through positive terms and positive interpersonal communication. Communities and organizations alike can use this research to consider how their members may respond to crises and create messages based on these results.

Foreign Direct Investment and Unemployment: VAR Analysis for Poland in the Years 1995-2009

1. Introduction Globalization process has completely changed the problem of capital availability in contemporary economy. It has brought diverse consequences for development of all economies. Global financial of the years 2008-2010 has proved that under some unfavorable conditions capital flows and international financial interconnections between countries can lead to serious destabilization of their real economies (Thalassinos, 2008). Even though the had started in highly developed countries and had touched them very hard, in many cases the real crisis victims were the developing economies. On the other hand, globalization and the availability of international capital can be a source of great opportunity for developing countries. First of all, developing economics can benefit from foreign capital. Foreign investment, especially foreign direct investment (FDI) can help in upgrading technological level of their economies, thus it can help to benefit from convergence process and to modernize a country. It is often believed that FDI can help to solve many serious economic and social problems. For example, it is commonly stated that FDI usually bring strong positive results for labour market of a beneficiary as it results in decreasing the level of unemployment. As a result in case of political process and political decision making this argument is very often used as justification for significant government direct financial support for international investors that plan their investments in a given country. Transnational corporation often directly influence government policy to lobby for a more favorable policy mix in the area of regulations, taxation or other form of direct and indirect support by utilizing their influence as potential large employers (see more: Whyman, 2006). Thus, the question about relations between foreign direct investment and unemployment makes very important and interesting scientific problem for en economist. It is also crucial for forming development policies. The aim of this paper is to investigate interrelationships among FDI and unemployment in Poland in the years 1995-2009. The organization of the paper is as follows: the fallowing section gives some theory and literature review of international researches for highly developed and developing countries. The second section has strictly empirical character with short explanation of methodology and presentation of VAR model. Finally the paper ends up with concluding remarks. 2. Theoretical background and literature review The influence of FDI on labour markets conditions has been extensively studied in recent years. These studies have had strictly theoretical but also empirical character. However, there are still many controversies on interrelations between FDI inflow and employment. Different theoretical models and empirical investigations for different countries or periods show often inconsistent results. This discussion and controversies signal that the effects of FDI on labour markets can change from one country to another. These effects can depend on the country features and specific forms of investment. For example in principle, it is accepted that positive employment effects are usually much higher if the FDI has the form of greenfield project. On the other hand when the foreign capital inflow takes the form of buyouts of privatized enterprises, it usually can have minor or even negative influence on employment (Hisarciklilar et all, 2009, p. 9) Among strictly theoretical works in the field one can point at work of Fung et all, where a three sector endogenous growth model is used to investigate effects of foreign direct investment on the dynamics of urban unemployment, labour and capital income and national welfare in Harris-Todaro economy. This model shows very complicated interrelations between destination of foreign direct investment, intersectoral mobility of capital, elastisities of substitution, factor investments of final good production, growth rate and welfare effects (Fung et all, 1999, pp. …

Need and Misery in the Eastern Periphery: Nordic Sámi Media Debate on the Kola Sámi

This article investigates Nordic Sámi discourse on the Kola (Russian) Sámi through analysis of texts from Sámi newspapers and journals 1992–2009. Among the findings are that the relationship between Nordic and Kola Sámi is frequently discussed as a donor–recipient pattern similar to that of general Western discourse on “the [global] South” and the 1990s’ “great misery discourse” on Russia. This portrayal of the Kola Sámi is here referred to as “the discourse of need”. However, the study also finds that this most divergent subgroup of the Sámi people is accepted into the border-transcending Sámi “nation” without question – it is never challenged that they are part of a larger “us”. The article also comments on some similarities between the discourse on the Kola Sámi as a “suffering” group, and certain patterns in Nordic Sámi self-representation. In comparison, a selection of non-Sámi media texts displayed less interest in the Kola Sámi; their paying attention to the group was more dependent on its members being perceived as victims of crisis and/or injustice; and they articulated the discourse of need more often. The two decades from which texts were drawn (1990s and 2000s) differed mainly by the latter period showing a general decrease in interest in the group; and by Sámi media being less dominated by the discourse of need, and containing more texts portraying the Kola Sámi as culturally and politically active.

Bail-Ins: Cyclical Effects of a Common Response to Financial Crises

In the wake of financial crises, public authorities often respond by using law to modify private contracts to transfer value from those who fare better in the crisis to those who fare worse. From the perspective of the crisis victim, this is a bailout. Because this article focuses on the perspective of the other party to the contract (specifically, on the incentives this response creates to that party), this article will refer to such responses as “bail-ins”. Recent examples include staying foreclosures, authorizing bankruptcy courts to modify mortgage terms, or threatening criminal prosecution to induce banks to undo transactions made with their clients. Bail-ins have greater political appeal than other forms of redistributive government action (e.g., increased government spending and taxation). Bail-ins are expected to reduce future investment, as investors fear similar actions in future crises. But how harmful is that? Market-skeptics question that the market correctly determines the optimal amount of investment, and are thus untroubled by government’s manipulation of it. And to appease those who do trust market allocation of investment, government can offset the investment reduction by subsidizing investment (e.g., making mortgage interest tax-deductable to encourage lending and offset the effects of staying foreclosures or of court-modified mortgage terms). This essay argues that bail-ins are significantly harmful from both market-trusting and market-skeptic perspectives. Rather than a permanent reduction in future investment, bail-ins reduce investment cyclically – significantly when the bail-in is imposed, but declining gradually as cognitive biases cause managers to underestimate the risk of future contract modifications and agency costs incentivize the managers to increase investment regardless of future bail-in risk. Cyclical fluctuation in investment deterrence may seem less harmful than permanent deterrence, but the opposite is true. As this essay explains, cyclical fluctuation of investment makes bail-ins harmful from the perspectives of both market-skeptics and market-trusters, and exacerbates the magnitude of future business cycles.

Victim Confidentiality on Sexual Assault Response Teams (SART)

The purpose of this study is to examine how professionals and paraprofessionals involved with a Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) understand and navigate different professional statutory requirements for victim confidentiality. Telephone surveys are conducted with 78 professionals: medical (27.8%), criminal justice (44.3%), and victim advocacy (27.8%). The majority of participants (58.2%) disagree with the statement that maintaining victim confidentiality posed a challenge to coordination on SART, 10.1% were neutral, and 31.7% agreed with the statement. Significantly more victim advocates than criminal justice and medical professionals perceive that maintaining victim confidentiality posed a challenge to coordination on SART. Consensus on how best to conceptualize victim confidentiality within SART has not been attained. Findings show that not all criminal justice and medical professionals understood the statutory provision of privilege to communications between rape crisis victim advocates and victims. Implications for practice and research are discussed.