Socio-cultural factors of risk and crisis communication: Risk cultures - or why people respond differently to disasters

摘要

Culturally-bounded assumptions and conventions strongly influence how communities make sense of risks and hazards and how these communities consider some ways of dealing with disasters more appropriate than others. By analysing differences and similarities in how ordinary people perceive and interpret disasters, as well as to whom the responsibility for risk prevention and crisis management is attributed, in seven European countries, three specific ideal types of risk cultures emerged: state-oriented risk culture, individual-oriented risk culture and fatalistic risk culture. The characteristics of this approach will be presented and a new model for socio-cultural sensitive crisis communication suggested.