The Emergency Preparedness announcement supplies pragmatic guidelines for an individual to follow during an unexpected emergency. However, the guidelines are contingent upon only temporary emergencies. There is insufficient information regarding the protocols one must take in order to persevere and survive pending the recovery process. Ergo, I am writing this letter to promote “social capital” as a reservoir of additional protocols. The following letter will include information regarding social capital and its value as it may affect the resilience and productivity among connected recovering individuals and groups. Additionally, I will list its advantages and limitations with certain case studies in regards to emergency preparedness and post-disaster recovery. Lastly, I will provide suggestions on how students may build on their social capital.
Social capital plays a major part in determining who survives and thrives after a disaster by virtue of resilience. Resilience at the communal level focuses on the ability of a community “to engage in positive, networked adaptation after a crises”; and communities with higher resilience are projected to engage in efficient recovery through coordinated efforts and activities after disasters (Aldrich 2012, 7). Henceforth, social capital is the networks and resources available to people through their connections to others; and it is these connections that aid in resilience. These resources that are embedded in a person’s social networks include not only material assets provided by connections, but also knowledge. Thus, many researchers have concluded that building social capital is pertinent for effective disaster response because strong networks facilitate efficient organization and reconstruction post-disaster. Moreover, research has shown that communities that demonstrate “less resilience fail to mobilize collectively”, thus further exacerbating the broken structures inflicted by emergencies on account of a longer waiting period for recovery guidance and assistance.
It is advantageous for the victims of disasters to network within their marginalized groups and beyond, extending throughout multiple hierarchies in order to absorb serviceable tools, primitive knowledge, and adequate care that prompt a victim’s resilience and perseverance. The more social capital people accumulate the more likely they will be able to rebuild once after an emergency has happened. With an accumulation of social capital, victims can begin to look to one another for knowledge about recovery tactics and begin to implement a system of reconstruction where each member can trust and rely upon one another for mental and emotional strength.
Albeit the advantages that social capital acquires, it also has its limitations. Aside those communities with a deficient reservoir of social capital, communities that appear to have plentiful social capital may still be negatively affected as further assistance from governmental and non-governmental organizations provide efficient aid contingent upon stronger connections. Stronger social networks that are “layered on top of existing prejudices, social relationships across certain groups can slow down the recovery of out-groups” (Aldrich 2012, 14). In other words, neighborhoods and social groups whom are connected with only lower class and marginalized societies may “reinforce existing systems of discrimination and justify programs that provide benefits only locally, not region wide or citywide”, thus “harming those on the margins of society” (Aldrich 2012, 2). Ergo, these marginalized communities do not prove to be a huge source of viability for emergency as they are seen to be inferior from those who have more resources and tools to offer. As one speaks of delineations in a community, a person is further putting those members in hierarchical categories based on factors such as class, race, and gender where the inferiors are not seen as valuable enough to save.
In 2010 when the earthquake rocked Haiti, the survivors in many villages had been internally displaced and further subjected to abject misery as international aid workers proved to be inadequate in the proper restoration of not just the physical infrastructure of the villages, but also the rejuvenation of villagers’ spirits and hopes. Instead of alleviating the pain amongst the survivors who had lost their families and loved ones, international aid workers subjected them to further disassociations from their networks by placing them in areas designated to provide temporary emergency health care. The pain and strife that is felt among the survivors was shown in the documentary, Lift Up: Return to Haiti After the 2010 Earthquake, filmed and produced by two Haitian brothers, Clifford Muse and Huguens Jean.
In the documentary, the Haitians struggle to return to the life they shared before the earthquake. In particular, one aspect that failed to continue in Haiti was the kite-flying season. Villagers stopped flying kites because the country had turned into something different for the villagers – it had become a place where friends and families were lost, thus diminishing the accumulation of social capital of the villagers, and severing them from their bridged connections. Not until the brothers had arrived back to their native nation to celebrate the life of their grandfather, the two revitalize the celebration of the kite flying. Kite season catalyzes the aggregation of families on rooftops for the male members to fly kites; in short, it is a form of community bonding.
The tradition of the Haitian Kite Festival mirrors the resilience of the Haitian villagers’ post-earthquake. The image of the Haitian families standing on a roof with a kite soaring above is a metaphor for the people of Haiti: surrounded by family and loved ones on shaky ground while their spirits soar above in the sky. Thus, once the two brothers revitalize the kite-flying celebrations, the spirits of the Haitian villagers had risen up and soared freely above the broken ground, promoting resilience. The Haitian people began to look to one another again to reminisce and rebuild what was lost in the earthquake without foreign aid.
The post-disaster distress of the Haitian villagers in 2010 mirrors the calamity felt of the survivors of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The survivors became internally displaced, moving from one designated emergency relief area to another while aid workers looked away to the growing mass of invisible pain amongst the survivors. Furthermore, the neighborhoods that had stronger social capital were quickly aided resulting in the swift reconstruction of their neighborhoods while the destitute were left lacking in monetary support. In other words, social capital influenced the distribution of reconstruction and temporary housing, and those with stronger networks mobilized other groups with more social capital (Aldrich 2012, 23). Moreover, the destitute lost further trust in the governmental aid groups once after the levees broke because officials had failed to evaluate the strength and capacity of the levees to hold in floodwaters. Therefore, those with lower status hold a general lack of trust in government and public health officials, but look towards their surviving family members and friends for care. Those with social capital, albeit the lack of networks with upper class communities, collaborated with one another while they were left behind by the national and international intervention teams.
The vital role of social capital in increasing the resilience and perseverance in a community is paramount. The social resources prove critical in rebuilding in the examples above. The emergency preparedness guidelines must at least maintain, if not deepen, social networks among the UVa community. Accordingly, I encourage you to inspire students to build on their social relationships, and to think of them as accumulated capital that may come in handy on “a rainy day”. It is pertinent that students strive to develop relationships with individuals across different social groups, thus bridging gaps in resources and knowledge. In order to enforce such mentality, I suggest contacting the Department of Student Health at Elson Student Health Center for its Student Services. Within Student Services is Health Promotion that produces the monthly “Stall Seat Journals” that promotes healthy behaviors – one being the promotion of social capital and how it positively impacts their lives in disaster situations.
Aforementioned, social capital fosters inequality; and delineations between groups may be accentuated if students stay connected through only one specific organization. Greek organizations may serve as strong social capital reservoirs as they serve as a foundation for connections that extend beyond the UVa community; but as a result of their selections process, some students may feel marginalized. In order to avoid the feelings of destitution, students should also be encouraged to utilize CAPS or the Women’s Center in order to overcome the negative sentiments that social capital may induce and to be reminded of the benefits that their current social networks serve.
Surviving communities with strong social networks experience faster recoveries. They have access to information, knowledge, and assistance. Those communities with little reservoirs of social capital may be unable to recover as quickly, and risk further deterioration in health and psychology if separated from trusted members within their neighborhood and community. Individuals are happier and therefore healthier when they have a social network. In the burgeoning field of trauma and distress, the restoration of moral order in the community, and the reintegration of individuals into social life with appropriate networks is one of the most appropriate forms of care.