The Destruction at Hiroshima, the victimizations at the Nazi concentration camps, and the carnage of 9/11 can all be considered “technological” disasters because they resulted from human actions. They can be considered “human-made.”
Other disasters, such as the tsunami of December 26th, 2004 and the San Francisco earthquake of 1989 can be characterized as “natural” disasters (often called Acts of God); they are considered beyond the control of humankind.
And finally, some disasters fall into a grey area somewhere between this dichotomy, such as a mine collapse, in which the responsibility can be attributed to both natural occurrences (natural shifts in the earth) and human negligence/error (careless people, poor construction of mine systems, weak supports). Hurricane Katrina may also fall into this category—although Hurricane Katrina herself was a natural disaster and was responsible for much damage, the subsequent effects can be attributed to human negligence and error as well (the weak/inadequate levy that allowed more widespread flooding, the insufficient response to those in need, resulting in more, resulting in more deaths and damages than might have otherwise occurred).
Additionally, regardless of whether a disaster results from human actions or from the natural environment, the events are felt at both the individual and community levels (“Individual” and “Collective” Trauma)—each of which has its own repercussions.
Compare and contrast the psychological impacts/reactions of the victims when a “human-made/technological” disaster occurs, as opposed to a “natural” disaster. How do individual and societal repercussions differ?
Specifications:
Your essay should be a minimum of approximately 5-8 double-spaced pages in length (no more than 1″ margins with either Times New Roman font, size 12 or Arial font, size 11). This length refers to content alone—you cannot count your title page or the final reference list as part of the length
