Disasters create opportunities for active learning, why do they repeat?

Essay , 2012 , 12 Seiten

Soziologie - Methodologie und Methoden

Disasters have adversely affected humans since the dawn of their existence. If one looks at the past as a model for what may be expected in the future, it can be found that severe events, which wreaked havoc on human communities and inflicted high levels of mortality, were surprisingly frequent and widespread. Considering the recent past, the number of disasters increased threefold within the 1980’s in comparison to the 1960’s, and the economic loss increased by a factor of almost nine. From the 1980's to the 1990's the number of affected people rose from 147 million to 211 million a year. Recognizing the rise in number and effects of disasters, this essay discusses the potential for active learning that disasters create and the reasons why those repeat.

This essay begins by defining the key terms 'disaster' and ‘active learning’. To identify pathologies that affect the ways organizations learn from disasters, factors that determine the potential for active learning are then defined and discussed. These factors are integral parts of Toft and Reynolds’s “Steps to active foresight model” (2005: 67), which illustrates how they are interlinked. Toft and Reynolds’s model is then used as a framework to study two separate nuclear power plant disasters. These high profile events, which negatively affected the nuclear industry, are examined to identify, whether the potential for active learning was realized after the first event, and if yes, why an event displaying similar features yet again occurred. The findings deriving from the case studies are then summarized and the essay question is answered and concluded with, why disasters repeat despite they create opportunities for active learning. Before any analysis or conclusions can be made and in order to establish a research framework, key terminology and concepts need to be examined, beginning with the key term 'disaster'.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

• Introduction
• Defining Key Terms
• Factors Affecting the Potential for Active Learning
• The Potential for Active Learning
• Case Studies: Three Mile Island and Fukushima Daiichi
• Conclusion
• Bibliography

Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte

This essay aims to explore the potential for active learning that disasters create and the reasons why they repeat. It examines the factors that influence the potential for active learning, including organizational perceptions of chance and disaster, safety philosophy, and safety culture. The essay utilizes Toft and Reynolds's "Steps to Active Foresight Model" as a framework to analyze two case studies: the Three Mile Island and Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant disasters. The analysis seeks to determine whether the potential for active learning was realized after the first event and, if so, why a similar event occurred again.

• Active learning and its potential
• Factors influencing the potential for active learning
• The role of safety philosophy and culture
• Case studies of nuclear power plant disasters
• Reasons for disaster repetition despite opportunities for active learning

Zusammenfassung der Kapitel

The introduction defines the key terms 'disaster' and 'active learning' and sets the context for the essay by highlighting the increasing frequency and impact of disasters. It also introduces the concept of isomorphic learning, which involves analyzing similar features across different organizations to gain insights from past events.

The second chapter delves into the factors that affect the potential for active learning, drawing upon Toft and Reynolds's "Steps to Active Foresight Model." These factors include organizational perceptions of chance and disaster, safety philosophy, safety culture, and the relative distance to an event. The chapter also discusses the limitations of hindsight and the importance of foresight in preventing similar disasters from occurring.

The third chapter examines the potential for active learning in organizations dealing with high-risk technologies, such as nuclear power plant operators. It highlights the importance of a sophisticated safety philosophy and culture in these organizations and discusses the challenges of developing and maintaining such a culture. The chapter also explores the influence of psychological factors on organizational behavior and the willingness to change safety philosophy.

The fourth chapter summarizes the key factors that affect the potential for active learning and presents Toft and Reynolds's 'Steps to Active Foresight Model' as a visual representation of these factors. The chapter also emphasizes the importance of analyzing the causes of disasters and learning from them to prevent similar events from occurring.

Schlüsselwörter

The key words and focus themes of the text include disaster, active learning, safety philosophy, safety culture, organizational perception of chance and disaster, foresight, hindsight, isomorphic learning, nuclear power plant disasters, Three Mile Island, Fukushima Daiichi, and the potential for active learning. The essay explores the reasons why disasters repeat despite the opportunities for active learning, examining the factors that influence the potential for active learning and the challenges of implementing effective safety measures in high-risk organizations.

• Erscheinungsjahr: 2012
• Seiten: 12
• Katalognummer: V293255
• ISBN (eBook): 9783656907558
• ISBN (Buch): 9783656907565
• Sprache: Englisch
• Schlagworte: disaster, disaster management, leicester