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Social-Individual Behaviour Problems Regarding Early Warning Systems Against Disasters

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Preventing Health and Environmental Risks in Latin America

Part of the book series: The Anthropocene: Politik—Economics—Society—Science ((APESS,volume 23))

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Abstract

This chapter addresses the relationship between early warning systems (EWS) and collective behaviour in Mexico , trying to establish a balance in their integrated meanings. It makes observations on how to understand EWS and introduces the subject of collective behaviour as a privileged thematic area in social sciences. It also introduces some elements to help clarify certain terms arising from theories about the social and individual behaviour that has governed the scope of EWS. It concludes that the design, configuration and operation of all existing EWS in Mexico should be reviewed to at least seek to reconcile these systems with the standards recommended by the International Strategy for the Reduction of Disasters.

Dr. Jesús Manuel Macías, Researcher, CIESAS. Email: macserr@att.net.mx.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The other two pillars are critical infrastructure and environmental buffers.

  2. 2.

    In the Global Survey document (UNISDR 2006) the names of those involved in the undertaking can be consulted.

  3. 3.

    The current uses of these terms are distinguished more as ‘collective behaviour’ in sociology and ‘social behaviour’ in behavioural biology.

  4. 4.

    Generally, the literature mentioned, which is basically in English, refers to the term ‘warning’, which in Spanish can be translated as ‘alerta’ or ‘advertencia’. The sense in which it is used here is that of an alert.

  5. 5.

    Immediate needs include not only those of a material nature, but also those related to food, housing, health, and other moral needs, such as the identification of those responsible for the death of relatives or loss of belongings.

  6. 6.

    See: ‘Mayors agree: they received alert but did not know the size of the storms’ In: http://mexico.cnn.com/nacional/2013/09/26/las-alertas-por-manuel-si-se-emitieron-pero-no-se-dimensionaron.

  7. 7.

    For this purpose, a formal session of the Permanent Seminar on Social Vulnerability to Disasters was organized by CIESAS in 2011 to warn of the importance of understanding the characteristics of the social groups that this EWS must address. Critical reflections on the SINAT design highlighted the autonomous function of component parts and the lack of an integrated approach which ensured, at the outset, a malfunction extremely recognized by experts in warning systems (Vid. Mileti/Sorensen 1990). Details of the seminar at: http://ciesas.wordpress.com/2011/06/10/los-sistemas-de-alerta-contra-desastres-en-mexico-y-su-vinculacion-con-la-poblacion-en-riesgo/.

  8. 8.

    ‘Cognitive prejudice’, Orbach would say elegantly (2014).

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  1. CIESAS, Tlalpan, Mexico

    Jesús Manuel Macías

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  1. Jesús Manuel Macías
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Correspondence to Jesús Manuel Macías .

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  1. Institute of Psychological Research, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico

    Ma. Luisa Marván

  2. Interdisciplinary Psychology Research Center, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico

    Esperanza López-Vázquez

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Macías, J.M. (2018). Social-Individual Behaviour Problems Regarding Early Warning Systems Against Disasters. In: Marván, M., López-Vázquez, E. (eds) Preventing Health and Environmental Risks in Latin America. The Anthropocene: Politik—Economics—Society—Science, vol 23. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73799-7_10

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