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Community Organizations Under Stress: a Study of Interorganizational Communication Networks During Natural Disasters

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Community Organizations Under Stress: a Study of Interorganizational Communication Networks During Natural Disasters 71-17,967 BROUILLETTE, John Robert, 1935- COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS UNDER STRESS: A STUDY OF INTERORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION NETWORKS DURING NATURAL DISASTERS. The Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1970 Sociology, general University Microfilms,A XEROX Company , Ann Arbor. Michigan COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS UNDER STRESS: A STUDY OF INTERORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION NETWORKS DURING NATURAL DISASTERS DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By John Robert Brouillette, B.S., M.A. ****** The Ohio State University 1970 Approved by t Adviser* /} Department of SociofogyDepartment Sociology ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The research in this dissertation was supported in part by PHS Grant 5 R01 MH 15399-02 from the Center for Studies of Mental Health and Social Problems, Applied Research Branch, National Insti­ tute of Mental Health. Many faculty members have been instrumental in assisting me throughout my graduate studies. Foremost among them was my adviser, Dr. Russell R. Dynes, whose untiring guidance, encouragement, and support were always forthcoming when they were needed most. Also I would like to express my sincere appreciation to Dr. E. L. Quar- antelli who, with Dr. Dynes, provided an invaluable graduate training program at the Disaster Research Center which allowed me to apply and advance the sociological knowledge I had been exposed to earlier in formal course work. A special word of thanks belongs to Dr. John F. Cuber who introduced me to The Ohio State University as a teaching assistant under him and who ushered me out when he sat on my final Doctoral oral examination. He has been a significant influence and inspiration to me throughout my graduate program. I am deeply indepted to all my colleagues at the Disaster Research Center who worked with me in developing my research design, gathered field data, and offered constructive criticism of the final study. Also, the informal, but professional interaction with the graduate assistants and associates has been of immeasurable value. ii Sincere gratitude is due to Miss Janet Patterson and Mrs. Sheryl Pustay, who typed this dissertation. In spite of other pressing demands, they each worked skillfully, loyally, and dilligently until the work had been completed. Finally, I must express my appreciation to my wife Mary and to my daughter Mary Beth for their love and patience. Their contri­ bution cannot be measured. iii VITA August 23, 1935 Born -- Minneapolis, Minnesota 1960 B.S. in History, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 1962 M.A. in Sociology, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 1962-1963 Instructor of Sociology, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 1963-1964 Teaching Assistant, Department of Sociology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1964-1969 Graduate Research Associate, The Disaster Research Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1969-present Assistant Professor of Sociology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Sociology Research Methodology. Dr. Saad Nagi and Dr. Kent Schwirian Statistics. Dr. Raymond Sletto and Dr. Kent Schwirian Social Organization. Dr. Russell Dynes and Dr. E. L. Quarantelli Complex Organization. Dr. J. Eugene Haas « iv PUBLICATIONS "A Tornado Warning System: Its Functioning on Palm Sunday in Indiana." Disaster Research Center Research Report, no. 15, mimeographed. Columbus: Disaster Research Center, The Ohio State University, 1966. "The Bureaucratic Model of Organizational Analysis: Its Limits and an Alternative Position." Paper presented at the annual meeting of The Ohio Valley Sociological Society, Notre Dame University, South Bend, Indiana, 1967. With James Ross. "Organizational Response to the Great Chicago Snowstorm of 1967." Disaster Research Center Research Report, no. 21, mimeographed. Columbus: Disaster Research Center, The Ohio State University, 1967. "Impressions of the Community Response in the Jonesboro, Arkansas Tornado." Disaster Research Center Research Report, no. 22, mimeographed. Columbus: Disaster Research Center, The Ohio State University, 1968. The Department of Public Works: A Community Emergency Organization. Disaster Research Center Report Series, no. 3. Columbus: Disaster Research Center, The Ohio State University, 1968. "Nonbureaucratic Adaptations of Complex Organizations Under Stress." Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, San Francisco, 1969. "The Department of Public Works: Adaptation to Disaster Demands." American Behavioral Scientist 13, no. 3 (January-February 1970), 369-379. With E. L. Quarantelli. "Types of Patterned Variation in Bureaucratic Adaptations to Organizational Stress." Sociological Inquiry (in press). v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.............................................. ii VITA ........................................................ iv LIST OF T A B L E S .............................................. viii LIST OF FIGURES.............................................. ix Chapter I. INTRODUCTION ........................................ 1 Theoretical Framework Step One: Derivation of Tentative Hypotheses II. THE RESEARCH DESIGN.................................. 16 Introduction Step Two: Seeking Documentary Support from the Literature Step Three: Analysis of Data to be Collected III. STEP TWO: DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS OF PREVIOUS DISASTER LITERATURE ........................ 43 Introduction Tentative Hypotheses Summary IV. STEP THREE: THE FOUR CITY S T U D Y .................... 109 Introduction Description of the Four Cities Presentation of Data Minot: The Second Time Around V. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS.............................. 176 Introduction Description of Typical Communities Analysis of Findings Implications of the Study Feasibility of the Modern System's Approach Suggestions for Further Research vi Page APPENDIX A.................................... *..................... 194 B.................................................... 197 C .......................................................... 200 D .......................................................... 203 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................ 205 vii LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Disaster Research Center Field Trips to Study Emergency Periods in Four C o m m u n i t i e s ............. 30 2. Organizations Contacted and Interviews Obtained in Four City Study .............................. 32 3. Summary of Hypotheses Tested in Four Community D i s a s t e r s .......................................... 164 viii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure Page 1. Relationship of Independent and Dependent Variables to be Studied ............................ 6 2. Organizational Chart of Glendora, California .......... Ill 3. Organizational Chart of Minot, North Dakota .......... 115 4. Organizational Chart of Sioux City, Iowa .............. 117 5. Organizational Chart of Sioux Falls, South Dakota . 120 6. Predicted Relationships Among Variables in the Communication Net in a Community with Prior Experience.......................................... 185 ix CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION This is a study of communication networks among community organizations in natural disasters. The object is to develop — and in part to test — hypotheses relating the prior emergency experience of a community to the nature of the communication net developed while under­ taking certain disaster tasks. While sociologists have studied organizations for decades, they have focused primarily on relations within rather than between organiza­ tions. More recently, however, some researchers have studied relations between and among organizations.2 There still remains a level of analy­ sis which has been relatively untouched: the overall community struc­ ture of interaction among organizations.3 Within this structure inter­ dependent, interacting organizations exchange information, loan personnel or material, and perform mhtual services. A necessary pre­ requisite for all types of interaction is communication. Therefore it is a basic process. While many situations exist in which interaction among organiza­ tions occurs, disasters provide a particularly useful laboratory in which to study this general interaction process in greatly heightened form. Communities attempt to cope with the resulting physical and 1 2 social disruption and in the mass assault which follows, different elements both within and outside the community — individuals, families, informal groups, and organizations of all types and sizes — become in­ volved. Community organizations lose autonomy and become more interde­ pendent. Every organization lacks certain important resources such as information, equipment, appropriate skills . to successfully meet its objectives. Therefore, we find various degrees of coordination and, hence, communication among organizations during community emergencies. 4- What type of communication patterns exist among community organiza­ tions engaged in natural disasters? We are interested in such things as: What organizations are involved? What organizations communicate with which other organizations? What is the nature of the communication links among organizations? Is the communication network confined prima­ rily to organizations within the community or is there considerable com­ munication across community boundaries? What are the similarities and differences in communication patterns of various communities affected by natural disasters? What factors account for particular
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