Introduction
The development of Disaster Psychology into various spheres of knowledge aims at the analysis of the psychological reactions emanating from either anthropogenic or environmental disasters consequences. This concept provides new approaches to efficiently constructing short-term and possible long-term relief programs. Emerging through stressful instances such as disasters, individuals usually undergo and express certain psychological reactions like denial, anger, irritability, isolation, blame games (blaming others or self-blames), mood swings, feeling stunned and helpless, depression, fear of nightmares, and grief (Frey et al. 2010). The duration and magnitude of these psychological reactions differ and can at times be mild or acute, delayed or immediate. This paper aims at comparing the psychological impact of May 1915 R.M.S Lusitania sinking by the German U-boat to 1906 San Francisco Earthquake & Fire. The paper will provide brief summaries of both the above disasters, highlights of the public/survivor reactions, draw some similarities and differences. Finally, the work of this paper will involve the application of three major psychologies of disaster concepts of Phases of Disaster Recovery, Culture as Casualty, and PTSD, to the above two disaster occurrences.
Lusitania Disaster
Lusitania Disaster was one of the most tragic and a pivotal incident of the World War I. Lusitania was a British luxury liner, which at some point in 1907, was known to be the world’s largest ship. In most instances, it was transferring passengers and cargo across the Atlantic Ocean linking the US and the Britain. Lusitania was approximately 787 feet in length with a capacity of up to 3048 passengers; crew included. One afternoon on the 7th day of May 1915, barely a year after the eruption of World War I across Europe, Lusitania was torpedoed by a German U-boat on its way to England (Liverpool) from Ney York. It carried more than 1900 crew members and passengers, of which more than 1100 people on board, including over 120 Americans perished (Frey et al. 2010). Initially, America pledged neutrality when World War I erupted, a position that was favored by the vast majority within the US. The death of these many innocent people resulting from the sinking of the Lusitania made many neutral countries turn their public opinion against Germany, including the United States. The Allies against Germany received much support from many countries such as the US, which later sided with the Allies against the Germans (Work, 2014).
The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake & Fire
San Francisco Earthquake and Fire is ranked as the worst natural disaster and the most significant earthquake in the history of the US. Its significance emanates from the extracted pool of scientific knowledge rather than the resultant sheer size. On the 18th day April 1906, San Francisco, California was devastated by an earthquake with subsequent fires. The earthquake erupted with its offshore epicenter at San Francisco, hosting a population of around 400,000people, at around 5.13a.m local time. This tragic event left more than 3000 individuals dead, with more than 28000 buildings destroyed. In addition to these damages, around 250,000 city residents were left homeless, with $500 million (1906 dollars) estimated as damages. The massive quake ruptured the fault of San Andreas to the south and north of the city, for an approximate total of 296 miles. It could as well been felt in the inland to central Nevada and southern Oregon to Los Angeles. The fire that speedily followed the quake brought the biggest devastation as the city’s water mains were destroyed by the initial tremors, rendering fire brigades ineffective in their efforts to combat the increasing blaze. Much of the city was consumed by the fire that burned for nearly three days. In spite of this massive devastation, the city quickly healed for the destruction as the planners were able to design an improved and new city, which was now constructed in a more elegant and logical structure. Also, the urban center’s destruction allowed the development of other towns near the Francisco Bay, creating room for arrivals from the rest of US and beyond.
Disaster Similarities and Dissimilarities
The similarity between Lusitania Disaster and the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake & Fire tragedy is the fact that both disaster situations drew the attention of the US Congress. In Lusitania case, the war was declared against the German state as the US joined the unhappy community who was disappointed by the German’s actions in sinking the ship. In San Francisco case, the Congress House together with the Committees on Appropriations came up with emergency appropriations so that the city could make payments for food, water, tents, blankets, and medical supplies in the days that followed the earthquake and subsequent fires. Again, both instances prepared the US in preparing measures for remedies both in the present and future in case such events would occur. In Lusitania, laws were passed that legitimated US’s involvement in World War I and subsequent instances that would invite the US to international wars (Work, 2014). In San Francisco, written rules and regulations became in place to deal with claims from property owners whose properties were damaged by the disaster.
The significant dissimilarity between Lusitania sinking and The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake & Fire is that Lusitania was manmade while the San Francisco disaster was a natural occurrence. In the case of Lusitania ship disaster, the attack was orchestrated in a known war zone by a nation-state of Germany which led to the declaration by the President after Congress debate, of war promulgation. However, about the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake & Fire, the natural disaster came by surprise. Another difference aspect of the Lusitania and the Francisco is that the Lusitania passengers had around 18 minutes to save their lives after the order from the captain, but this could only matter perhaps to those passengers who were probably in their prime as they could salvage seats on the lifeboat. San Francisco, on the other hand, city residents were caught by surprise and most people had no control over nasty scenes that were associated with the disaster. Furthermore, the destruction of the water mains meant that artificial salvation from the firefighters had limited impact. Moreover, the Lusitania disaster drew the United States into World War I as they went to the side that disappointed by the actions of the Germans. San Francisco earthquake and fire, by its nature, had no cause for any war involvement between the US and any other country.
Three Major Psychology of Disaster Concepts Applied to the Disasters
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in relation to Lusitania Disaster, the Lusitania had around 18 minutes leading to the sinking of the ship. That was purely a life-and-death situation, as referred to by social scientists, “self-interested reactions predominate.” It means the captain’s order did not matter. People reacted selfishly as the ship was going down, a situation which might have likely favored those in their prime (16 to 35 years) in the war of winning lifeboat seats. In as much as PTSD never existed in the 1915 medical annals, terms like ‘combat or battle fatigue’ of World War II, or the previous ‘shell shock’ might have applied to the case of Lusitania survivors. The demographic data of the 761 survivors proved that majority of those who survived the ordeal were between 16 and 35. Most of these survivors had to deal with the aspects of PTSD-like physical digression, severe depression and certain mental or psychological inabilities which might be shallowly understood in those ancient times (Breslau, 2007).
In comparison to the San Francisco disaster, the city population had no timeframe to save their lives. In fact, an enormous number of military personnel from San Francisco tried to respond as fast as they could but nothing much they could do as the city had already been ruined. A lot of assistance was brought to the city from different sections of the world, but it was still a significant challenge for the survivors who underwent difficulties and challenging moments. Survivors managed to spend nights in tents and city parks. They also waited for food in long queues while some did their cooking in the streets in efforts to reducing the threat of enhancing the blaze. These survivors had to deal with PTSD aspects like lineless, depression, stress, and psychological disorders resulting from the imagination of property loss and death of neighbors and friends (American Psychiatric Association, 2013).
Phases of Disaster Recovery is proven to occur in four stages such as heroic, honeymoon, disillusionment, and the reconstruction phase. The first phase (heroic) takes place immediate after the occurrence of the disaster. The affected individuals are usually shocked and need to be offered basic needs like shelter and food. The second phase (honeymoon) takes place in the close days that follow disaster occurrence. This stage is evident by media coverage, public support, as survivors get applauded. The third phase (disillusionment) is where survivors become tired as they get overwhelmed by the ongoing recovery efforts. The final phase (reconstruction) is where the survivors strive to manage and meet the public’s expectation concerning the recovery process that they undergo.
The heroic phase in the Lusitania Disaster commenced immediately the German U-boat torpedoed the ship and continued until when the survivors were being saved. The honeymoon stage took place upon the dismemberment of the rescue vessels by the survivors with the frenzy of the media that ensued in the exploitation of the survivors, in what would have been termed “sound bites” by the contemporary media. But in the 1915 context, this phase was shown in slow motion, since television, picture motion and radio infancy was just starting to emerge. Both the disillusionment and reconstruction phases were not adequately documented, and perhaps lie only in the context of the survivors. War events took center stage that shifted the attention of the media from the aftermath of the Lusitania attack, and the survivors were probably dispersed back to their normal lives.
In comparison, San Francisco Earthquake and Fire Disaster had more or less similar heroic phase. This first phase began immediately after the earthquake and extended till the military personnel conducted rescue process. The honeymoon stage occurred when the survivors embarked in trying to settle in the streets and city parks under tents and public social structures. There was a frenzy of media attention at the time which followed the aftermath of the disaster. The disillusionment phase occurred as most of the survivors struggled to come to terms with the events of the disaster, luckily enough, there was sufficient support in efforts of restructuring the city, which led to San Francisco being developed into the modern and new city.
Culture as Casualty as explained by expert Larry Pastor indicates that cultural trauma comes to effect when members of a group or a collectivity feel to be the subject of horrendous occurrence that leaves behind indelible signs after their collective consciousness, creating memories that last forever, and shifting their future identities in critical and irrevocable manner (Barton, 2009). In Lusitania ship attack, the British people’s ire was aroused to the extent that they declared and regarded both the German population and their military with utter hatred for the start and duration of World War I. The perceptional change between these two warring nations proceeded into the cause of World War II later in 1939. Social prejudice and manifestations of calling the Germans “Hun” and the political and racial hatred conferred to the English monarchy by the Germans traces back to incidents such as Lusitania attack (Kinston & Rosser, 2014). The anti-German riots of Merseyside (Ireland) and Liverpool were fueled by the negative reactions that were expressed due to the sinking of the ship, also culminating to the determination of 200 Germans to stay on the Isle of Man during the war period. A lot of internees perished in captivity.
In the wake of San Francisco, the Neighborhood Emergency Response Team (NERT), which was about family and personal readiness, where neighbors helped each other and performed the greatest good for the largest population (Hogan et al. 2012). It was a realistic and positive approach to disaster, and emergency situations as civilians who had initially been on their own proved that their actions can significantly improve life-saving, property protection and restoring order from chaos. The city became more united than ever (Basoglu et al. 2013).
Summary
The achievement of psychology in dealing and understand disaster has been clearly brought out in this paper and the following have been evident. Disaster can lead to extreme psychological disturbances as many victims undergo PTSD, anxiety and depression. The duration and severity of a disaster predict much of the intensity and extent of the aftermath reactions. Individual’s vulnerability factors such as age, poverty level, previous psychopathology levels, gender, social support, and ethnicity do play some role in the limit of post-disaster disorders in victims. These involved variables do interact in complicated ways. The field of mental health participated both in pre-disaster (emergency planning) and post-disaster in psychotherapy, debriefings, and crisis intervention and emergency management evaluations (Foa & Kozak, (2006).
References
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