Community Disaster Vulnerability (PDF)

Michael J. Zakour: Dr. Zakour earned an M.A. in Sociocultural Anthropology in 1980 from the Pennsylvania State University, an M.S.W. from Washington University School of Social Work in 1984, and a Ph.D. from Washington University in St. Louis in 1988. He taught at Tulane University School of Social Work from 1991 to 2007, where he was director of the Ph.D. in Social Work from 1998 to 2005. He currently is Associate Professor and Director of the Nonprofit and Voluntary Associations (NOVA) Institute, School of Applied Social Sciences, Division of Social Work, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV. He has published in important social work journals such as the Journal of Social Services Research, Social Work, Social Work Research, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Social Development Issues, Reflections, and the Journal of Social Work Education. In 2000, he was Editor of Disaster & Traumatic Stress: Research and Intervention, which is a monograph in the series Tulane Studies in Social Welfare. He has also published numerous chapters on disaster social work. He is currently co-PI on a research project on the evacuation of persons with disabilities, funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, through the U.S. Department of Education. 



David F. Gillespie. Dr. Gillespie earned his Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Washington in Seattle. He is currently Professor of Sociology in Social Work at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Washington University in St. Louis. He has undertaken studies for a number of government, non-profit and private organizations, including the National Science Foundation, the Health, Education and Welfare Department, the American Red Cross, and Union Electric Company. His research has been primarily focused on community dynamics and networks of interorganizational relations for disaster preparedness. He has published several books and numerous papers on organizations

From the reviews:“The small book … summarizes how social scientists conceptualize, research, and approach such matters. … helpful to social workers or other professionals on the ground, with the possible exception of those who design plans for emergency response to disasters, who may find it useful as an introduction to research approaches. This may also be a useful book for those who want to enter the field of disaster research and are looking for a compact overview and an introduction to the vocabulary of the area.” (Julian Rappaport, PsycCRITIQUES, Vol. 58 (47), December, 2013)