Show simple item record

dc.contributor.authorNojang, Emmanuel Nzengung
dc.description.abstractAlmost every day, we see and hear about disasters impacting individuals and households in communities worldwide. Impacts experienced include loss of life and injury, loss of property, and more. Disasters are often devastating for those who experience them. It is for this reason that preparedness is advocated by national and international organizations such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the United Nations. And, it is for this reason that researchers have often attempted to assess how prepared people are. Yet, what is this thing they call preparedness? What does it look like? What is involved in becoming a wholly prepared person? One might have assumed that organizations like FEMA and researchers would have addressed these fundamental questions prior to recommending that people become prepared or measuring how prepared people are, but that is not the case. The absence of an understanding of what preparedness is and entails is a critical theoretical gap with significant practical implications. This research explored the basic issue of what preparedness means and entails to people in Fako Division, Cameroon—a place threated by many hazards and which has experienced many disasters. From the analysis of the 33 interviews conducted in this study, the researcher found that preparedness is a dynamic state of readiness that is dependent on context, a social process, and a process of completing activities to save lives and minimize the effects of disasters. In addition, the researcher found that Cameroonians view a wholly prepared person as a) one who would have knowledge about hazards and what to do about them, b) one who would engage others, including their families and neighbors, in discussions about activities related to hazards and what to do about them, and c) one who would engage in activities to minimize loss from hazards, sustain themselves in the face of hazards, and flee from hazards. The findings from the interview data synch to a large extent with what is implied, but not clearly stated, in the existing research literature. The researcher address this synchrony and posit a definition of preparedness and identify the theoretical components of preparedness.en_US
dc.publisherNorth Dakota State Universityen_US
dc.rightsNDSU Policy 190.6.2
dc.titleThe Context and Concept of Individual and Household Preparedness: The Case of Fako Division in Cameroonen_US
dc.typeDissertationen_US
dc.typeVideoen_US
dc.date.accessioned2015-12-10T18:02:51Z
dc.date.available2015-12-10T18:02:51Z
dc.date.issued2015
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10365/25483
dc.subject.lcshFako Division (Cameroon)en_US
dc.subject.lcshPreparednessen_US
dc.subject.lcshEmergency management -- Planningen_US
dc.rights.urihttps://www.ndsu.edu/fileadmin/policy/190.pdfen_US
ndsu.degreeDoctor of Philosophy (PhD)en_US
ndsu.collegeArts, Humanities, and Social Sciencesen_US
ndsu.departmentEmergency Managementen_US
ndsu.programEmergency Managementen_US
ndsu.advisorJensen, Jessica


Files in this item

Thumbnail
Thumbnail

This item appears in the following Collection(s)

Show simple item record