What is Social Vulnerability?
Social Vulnerability refers to the possibility of loss in a society in relation to the capacity for recovery. The level of social vulnerability is dependent on a society's ability to defend against the impact of a perilous event. It often refers to a combination of various social attributes that work together to either make a population more vulnerable or more resilient to a disaster. Social Vulnerability really is only a sect of the grand scheme of hazards research. With every disaster there is a process. First, there are the conditions before the disaster strikes. Second, when the disaster strikes, if affects the pre-disaster conditions and changes various aspects of the norm. After the disaster strikes, there is a process of recovery which can take days or decades, and the process of mitigation. When we look at Social Vulnerability, we are analyzing how much the population will be affected when the disaster changes the pre-disaster conditions, and to what degree the proposed disaster will change environment. A somewhat quasi-opposite to vulnerability is resilience. If a population is able to prevent excessive damage from a disaster, and quickly recover from any damage it brings, this exemplifies resilience. For example, New Orleans would have been more resilient to mass flooding if the levees had been properly maintained.
Hazards Terminology Used in Social Vulnerability
Within the discussion of Social Vulernability, there are some words that are often used. The following is a helpful list of some of these terms and their definitions.
- Hazard
The potential threat to humans and things they value (e.g., earthquake, hurricane, tornado) - Risk
The probability of an event occurring, or the likelihood of a hazard being realized and creating loss/li> - Disaster
The realization of a hazard with widespread losses (no loss - no disaster) - Vulnerability
The potential for loss related to ability to recover; the degree of resistance offered by a social system to the impact of a hazardous event; vulnerability is a result of both physical and social factors - Recovery
The process that occurs after the disaster and after rescue / relief; the move to restore functionality of an area with the idea of returning to prior levels and functions; phases of recover are Search and Rescue, Restoration of Services, Reconstruction of Existing Facilities; and Commemorative Construction - Resilience
A measure of the capacity to absorb and recover from the impact of a hazardous event - Differential Recovery
The rate of recovery varies by available resources, magnitude of the devastation, impact on the population, and vulnerability of the population prior to the event; vulnerability and resilience to disaster determines differential recovery; those that are more vulnerable to disaster are likely to recover more slowly that those that are more resilient - Remote Sensing
The collection of satellite imagery or aerial photography with the intent of learning more about a location through analysis of the collected information.
This information was contributed by Dr. Lisa Keys-Mathews, University of North Alabama
So What?
So what can we do with all this information? If you take a look at the preceding map, you can see that Social Vulnerability has been mapped out by county in the southern United States. These ratings were created by using a Social Vulnerability Index (SoVI). A SoVI combines census data with geographic information systems to determine a relative comparison of vulnerability for a set unit of population (state, county, block group, etc.). The difficulty lies in trying to determine what factors to use to determine a population's vulnerability. Check out our factors of vulnerability page to learn more.