Citation

Stewart K, Glanville JL, Bennett DA. Prof. Geogr. 2014; 66(3): 421-435.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/00330124.2013.799995

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In this study the characteristics of volunteering and community response to major natural disasters are examined. We investigate the spatiotemporal patterns of volunteering and the extent to which such community response can be understood in terms of social networks. Understanding the linkages among volunteering, social networks, and disasters offers opportunities for improving the planned response when disasters strike, including how volunteering might be increased by tapping into social networks, how far volunteers might be willing to travel, and the degree to which volunteers help out over the course of the hazard. This research focuses on the severe flooding that affected Fargo, North Dakota, in spring 2009. We examine how the structure of social networks is related to different types of volunteering behavior, including the intensity of volunteering and spatiotemporal aspects of volunteering. The investigations revealed that volunteers were willing to travel at least five miles and, in some cases, up to approximately eighteen miles to volunteer. The results also indicate that even volunteers who resided in locations farthest away from the flooding endured during all phases of the hazard event. Our findings suggest that network density and diversity are significantly related to different types of volunteer behavior. Network diversity predicts volunteering early, for a greater number of days, and doing multiple types of volunteering, and network density is a positive predictor of volunteering after flood stage was declared and at a friend or family member's home or the workplace.

Language: en