University of Delaware Disaster Research Center FIAL PROJECT REPORT # 10 EVIROMETAL CRISES Russell R. Dynes and Dennis E. Wenger January 19, 1971 Contract o. 6-012-Ohio MG 14-01-0001-1536 Water Resources Center, 1791 eil Avenue, Colubus, Ohio 43210.
EVIROMET CRISES Project Copletion Report Russell R. Dynes Departent of Sociology Disaster Research Center The Ohio State UnixJersity and Dennis E. Wenger Departent of Sociology University of Delaware Contract o. B-0 12 -Oh io MG 14-01-0001-1536 January 19, 1971 Water Resources Center 1791 eil Avenue Colubus, Ohio 43210
Part A: Diensions of Counity Leadership and the Definition of Water Resources Probles Russell R. Dynes Departent of Sociology Disaster Research Center The Ohio State University and Dennis E. Wenger Departent of Sociology Un iver s it y of De 1 aware Part B: Factors in the Counity Perception of Water Resource Probles Russell R. Dynes Departent of Sociology Disaster Research Center The Ohio State University and Dennis E. Wenger Departent of Sociology Un iver s i ty of De law are Part C: A Sociologist Looks at Water Resources Research Russell R. Dynes Departent of Sociology Disaster Research Center The Ohio State University iii
PREFACE This report consists of three different parts. Part A reports certain aspects of research which was done in four Ohio counities. The leadership pool within each of these counities was asked to consider water resource probles in the context of other probles within their counity. The study indicated that, even in counities with objective probles, water resource probles had low urgency. Part B presents a paper based on the research reported on in Part A. This report was presented at the orth Aerican Water Resource Conference, Las Vegas, evada in October 1970 and was published in the Water Resources Bulletin 7, no. 4 (August 1971): 644-651. Part C presents a paper which was delivered at the Second Annual Water Resources Colliquiu "Social Sciences in Water Resources Research," June 1968 at Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pa. and was published as part of the Proceedings, Inforation Report o. 57. This research was supported by the Office of Water Resources, U.S. Departent of Interior (Project B-012-OHIO), through the Water Resources Center of The Ohio State University and is subitted as the final report. V
Table 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 LIST OF TABLES The Sapled.Cities................ The Salience of Water Related Probles to the Power Actors in the Four Cornunities.......... The Percent of the Power Actors in the Four Counities Who Cited Water Related Probles as Iportant Counity Concerns Responses to the Question "Does Your Counity Have Any Water Related Probles?.... A Coparison of the Defined Degree of Severity Inherent in Water Related and General Probles in the Four Counities.. A Coparison of the Degree of Consensus Evidenced by Each Leadership Pool Concerning the Severity of Water and General Probles in the Four Counities.... A Coparison of the Degree of Local Solvability Inherent in the Proble Definitions of Water and General Probles in the Four Counities.............. A Coparison of the Degree of Uniqueness Inherent in the Definitions of Water and General Probles in the Four Counities A Coparison of the Degree of Clarity Inherent in the Definitions of Water and General Probles in the Four Counities A Coparison of the Perceived Degree of Urgency Inherent in the Proposed Solutions to Water and General Probles in the Four Counities................ A Coparison of the Perceived Degree of Institutional Coordination Inherent in the Proposed Solutions to Water and General Probles in the Four Counities... A Coparison of the Percentage of "Public" Responsibility Inherent in the Proposed Solutions to Water and General Probles in the Four Counities......... A Coparison of the Degree of Perceived Organizational Relevance Inherent in the Proposed Solutions to Water and General Probles in the Four Counities... A Coparison of the Rank Ordering of the Ten Most Essential Organizations-to the Solutions for Water and General Probles. Page 16 22 23 24 27 30 32 34 3.7 41 43 46 49 50 viii
Tab 1 e 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 A Coparison of the Degree of Proposed External, on- Local Involveent Inherent in the Proposed Solutions to Water and General Probles in the Four Counities.... 53 A Coparison of the Degree of Perceived "Blockage" Inherent in the Proposed Solutions to Water and General Probles in the Four Counities........ 55 A Coparison of the Levels of Inactivity Inherent in the Proposed Solutions to Water and General Probles in the FourCounities................ 57 The Salience of Water Related Probles to the Power Actors in the Four Cornunities............ 69 Page The Percent of the Power Actors in the Four Counities Who Cited Water Related Probles as Iportant Counity Concerns.. 70 A Coparison of the Degree of Consensus Evidenced by Each Leadership Pool Concerning the Severity of Water and General Probles in the Four Counities........... 71 A Coparison of the Degree of Local Solvability Inherent in the Proble Definitions of Water and General Probles in the Four Counities............... 72 A Coparison of the Perceived Degree of Institutional Coordination Inherent in the Proposed Solutions to Water and General Probles in the Four Counities........... 74 23 A Coparison of the Percentage of "Public" Responsibility Inherent in the Proposed Solutions to Water and General Probles in the Four Counities........ 75 24 A Coparison of the Rank Ordering of the Ten Most Essential Organizations to the Solution of Water and General Probles.. 76 ix
Part A: Diensions of Counity Leadership and the Definition of Water Resources Probles -1-
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Introduction There is growing concern in the world over the relationship between huan social organization and the physical environent. The "ecological crisis" in the United States is no longer siply a point of discussion and distress to ecologists, hydrologists, and other scholars. It has becoe a salient public issue. As a "cause" it has served as a rallying point for such diverse groups as students, politicians, housewives, acadeicians, clergyen, social coentators, and industrial leaders. Such environental probles as water and air pollution, energy and resource depletion, conservation, and congestion have becoe defined as being "disastrous." Their effects are viewed as being potentially ore daaging than the strongest hurricane, earthquake, or tornado. Technological advances are being ade in an attept to prevent and assuage these deleterious conditions. Finding solutions to these probles, however, also requires the analysis and involveent of social organization. An understanding of how the counity in general, and the ebers of the counity who hold social power in particular, perceive, define, and attept to solve these types of probles is requisite if any proposal for aeliorative action is to be successful. The power actors are those individuals within the counity's "leadership pool" who control the resources with which to aid or abett any attept to solve these vital probles. Therefore, the extent to which they are aware of these probles, the nature of their perception and definition of these probles, and the types of action they propose to solve the are issues of relevance to anyone attepting to institute aeliorative action in the local counity. -3 -
These and other issues were exained by the Disaster Research Center in a study of counity reactions to these types of probleatic conditions. These probles were considered to be collective stress situations siilar to natural disasters and civil disturbances. Utilizing a sociological fraework, the Center has defined collective stress as a large, unfavorable change in the inputs of a social syste.' Since 1963 the Center has been engaged in the study of collective stress conditions caused by the rapid ipact of stressinducing agents such as hurricanes, explosions, tornadoes, and earthquakes. Scores of studies of disasters and civil disturbances have been conducted within the continental United States and in several foreign countries. Due to their rapid onset and liited, teporal duration, these conditions have been classified as short ter stress-inducing situations. As opposed to these types of probles, however, the present study will exaine long ter collective stress situations. The specific long ter stress-inducing agents selected for study were the water related probles of pollution, depletion, and flooding. These types of probles are ideal for an analysis of counity perception and response. Their nature is one of gradual onset and extended duration. As opposed to sudden ipact agents, such as natural disasters, they allow the opportunity for planning and action to cope with their stress-induced situations. On the other hand, because of their nature they are ore difficult to perceive by counity ebers. Due to their gradual onset, counities ay adapt to and coe to accept their presence. Obviously, the perception of stress is a necessary condition for planning and action. The extent to which the power actors in the counity perceive these probles to exist, and the nature of their proble-definitions and action-proposals are the central concerns of this study. -4-
Specifically in this report we will exaine three issues. First, we will analyze the nature of the "leadership pools" perception and definition of water related probles as copared with other general counity probles. Of particular concern will be the extent to which objectively present water ' related probles such as flooding and pollution are salient to the counity's power actors. Second, the types of action offered by the power actors to solve water probles and other general probles will be copared. Finally, social factors ipinging upon these perceptions and definitions will be considered. Specifically, we will exaine the effect of (1) a disaster culture and (2) the structure and distribution of social power in the counity upon these diensions. Before turning to these issues and a discussion of the ethodology utilized in this study, the key concepts eployed in this exaination will be briefly defined. The Basic Concepts A. The Leadership Pool We shall define as the leadership pool those coponents of any social syste, be they individuals, groups, or organizations, that are identified as possessing superordinate social power and the ability to affect the processes in the syste2 For practical purposes, the concept of the "leadership pool" is synonyous with the concept of the "power structure." Basically, the leadership pool is coposed of those actors in the local counity who hold superordinate social power. By 11 social power," we refer to the ability of a syste coponent to actualize its interests (attain goals, prevent interference, coand respect, etc.), whether consciously or unconsciously, within -5-
the context of asyetrical relationships within the syste and thereby affect the processes in the ~yste.~ To control social power assues the control of vital power relevant resources, such as oney and credit, jobs, ass edia, high social status, knowledge and specialized skills, popularity and esteeed personal characteristics, legality, anpower and control of organizations, etc. 4 Individuals who control such resources have the ability to aid or abett any attept to change the local counity or solve local probles. These individuals are power actors. How do they perceive water probles? Are they aware of existent water related probles in their counities? What type of action do they propose to solve these probles? These are iportant questions to anyone who is attepting to institute change within the local counity and solve local water related probles. The power actors, however, do for a group within the local counity, and the characteristics of this "leadership pool" and the nature of the interrelationships aong the power actors are iportant factors. It has been previously shown that the characteristics of the leadership pool affect the perception and definition of counity probles by the power actors. 5 Specifically, leadership pools can be described and analyzed along the following characteristics : (1) size, (2) institutional doinance, (3) social class level, (4) legitiacy, (5) visibility, (6) scope, (7) cohesiveness, (8) entren- chent, and (9) cosopolitanis. 6 Size refers siply to the nuber of indivi- duals within the counity who are identified as possessing superordinate social per. The concept of institutional doinance refers to the extent to which a single institution within the counity, such as the econoic, industrial, political, or educational institutions, doinates the local leadership pool. In certain counities, the econoic institution ay be doinant, while -6-
in others power ay be inordinately controlled by the political institution. The average occupational and educational levels of the counity leadership are included under the concept of social class level. The next four diensions 7 were developed by Thoas J. Anton. Legitiacy refers to the extent to which the local power actors hold public or associational office. Visibility taps the extent power actors are "visible" to the counity residents, as opposed to covert, "behind-the-scene" anipulators. Whether or not the leadership pool is coposed of power actors who hold power in only one institutional area, such as education, or are I'powerfu1" in any different institutions is tapped by the characteristic of scope. Where a leadership pool is characterized by 11 narrow scope," power is institutionally specific in nature, and the power actors exercise power in only one or a few institutions. Cohesiveness refers to the degree and nature of interaction aong the power actors in the leader- ship pool. The actors ay exhibit a high level of interaction, or they ay be relatively isolated fro each other. Entrenchent refers to the extent to which the leadership pool has been ebedded in the counity. Basically, it is a easure of the proportion of their lives that the power actors have spent in the counity. Finally, cosopolitanis refers to the extent to which the leadership pool is characterized by "cosopolitan," as opposed to "localite" attitudes and interests. A "cosopolitan" ay live in the local counity, but he identifies and relates hiself to issues, events, and social organiza- tion in the broader national and international ilieu. A ''localite," on the other hand, is parochial. His interests are confined to the local counity. It is a basic assuption of this study that these characteristics of the leadership pool will influence the anner in which the leadership'pool per- ceives and defines local water related probles. -7 -
B. Counity Probles We shall define as counity probles those current or future conditions perceived to be present or likely to occur within the counity social syste that are defined by power actors in the leadership pool as being dysfunctional and requiring aelioration, whether or not the conditions can be aeliorated. 8 To be considered as a counity proble, therefore, a local condition ust (1) be perceived to be existent within the counity, (2) be defined by the power actors as being detriental, pernicious, baneful, or deleterious to the counity, and (3) be defined by the power actors as requiring soe easure of activity to solve. Whether or not the conditions can objectively be solved is relatively uniportant. We are interested in those probles for which the counity, influenced by its power actors, will institute aeliorative action. In this study we will be interested in exaining a specific type of counity proble, i.e. water related probles, and coparing this type of proble with other types of counity probleatic conditions. As previously noted, the concern here is with the salience and nature of the power actors definition of water and general cornunity probles. These probles will be exained in light of the following diensions: (1) salience, (2) degree of severity, (3) degree of consensus concerning the level of severity inherent in the proble, (4) the extent: to which the perceived probles are viewed as solvable by the local counity, (5) the degree of uniqueness of the probles, and (6) the degree of clarity in the definition of the 9 probles. The diension of salience refers to the extent to which objectively present probles are perceived by the power actors to be inherent in the counity. In this study we will exaine counities that objectively have flooding and water pollution probles. Tine central question is, -8-
11 Do the power actors perceive these probles to be existent in the counity, are they aware of these probles, are these probles iportant to the?" The degree of severity of the probles is a crucial diension. Aeliorative action is likely to be undertaken to solve those probles that are defined by the power actors as being severe, as opposed to those which are viewed as not being serious. The degree of consensus evidenced by the power actors about the severity of the probles, however, is also iportant, If the power actors in the counity are not in agreeent about the severity of a proble or a set of probles, aeliorative activity is less likely to be undertaken because of the probles involved in coordinating action, allocating resources, and exchanging inforation under such conditions. The fourth diension is also iportant. The power actors ay perceive that certain probles siply cannot be solved by the local counity at the local level. Such conditions ay require the involveent of outside, regional, state, and national units who possess vital, requisite resources in order to be solved. If one is interested in understanding the possibility and probability of successfully ipleenting a progra to solve any local proble, knowledge of this diension is crucial. The degree of uniqueness inherent in the proble refers to the extent to which the local power actors see the proble as being unique to their own counity, as opposed to being siilar to other probleatic conditions found in neighboring or coparable counities. Finally, the clarity of the proble definitions offered by the leadership pool refers to the extent to which the power actors define the probles in specific cause and effect ters. This diension is very iportant. If the leadership pool of the counity perceives and defines specific causes of the proble, the possibility of successful aelioration is increased. If the leadership pool exhibits a lack of -9-
understanding about the causes of local probles, however, successful aelior- ation is probleatic. There is siply no salient visible, understood causal agent against which to act. Fro the above brief discussion, it ay be evident that the ajor criterion for the selection of these specific diensions was their apparent relationship with the type and nature of action that ight be proposed to aeliorate the local probles. In other words, the attept was ade to include diensions whose configurations would affect the nature of the action proposed by the leadership pool to solve the probles. In addition, dien- sions were selected which ight be influenced by the previously noted charac- teristics of the leadership pool. We will copare water related probles and general counity probles on these diensions shortly. C. Counity Action We shall define as counity action those activities or inactivities that are proposed by the leadership pool, require local counity involveent, and are offered to aeliorate perceived cornunity probles and thereby affect the structure and processes in the counity." We are interested in both proposals for action and inaction. The decision not to undertake aeliorative activity to odify a condition defined as probleatic is iportant, and occurs in all systes. By our definition, however, cornunity action, when proposed, ust require the involveent of the local counity. This criterion does not ean that the cornunity ust be priarily responsible for undertaking aelior- ative activity, only that it be involved. Priary responsibility ay lie with outside agencies. Furtherore, we will only be concerned with those proposals for action that are truly aeliorative, i.e., that are offered to solve local probles. Other types of action are beyond the scope of this -10-
study. Finally, it is noted that the solution to any proble within the counity affects the structure and processes of the counity. In other words, aeliorative action is an agent of change. Any type of aeliorative activity, be it an attept to eliinate pollution in a local strea or to rebuild the downtown business district, can be exained and analyzed aong the following patterns: (1) the urgency or iediacy of instituting the proposals, (2) the degree of institutional coordination required to successfully ipleent the progra, (3) the degree of public versus private responsibility for action, (4) the perceived relevance of local organizations, (5) the proposed degree of external, non-local involveent in the aeliorative action, (6) the perceived possibility of "blockage" by one of a few power actors, and (7) the level of inactivity." An iportant pattern of any action proposal is the urgency or iediacy perceived to be requisite if a successful solution is to 3e obtained. Soe solutions ay have to be undertaken "iediately," others ay be postponed "indefinitely." Obviously, this pattern is an iportant deterinant of the probability of successful aelioration. Urgency is likely to beget activity. The degree of institutional coordination required to successfully ipleent the progra is another crucial diension. Certain probles ay be "solvedrt by a single institution, working independently. A proble ay be defined as purely being an educational, governental, or cultural issue. Other probles, however, ay be defined as requiring the involveent and coordination of various institutions within the counity. The proble of urban renewal, for exaple, ay be perceived as requiring the involveent of the governental, econoic, industrial, educational, and financial institutions. This pattern is an excellent indicator of the coplexity of any proposal. As such, it provides -11-
useful inforation concerning the probability of successful ipleentation. Coplex probles requiring coordinated local action ay be difficult to solve. Furtherore, the degree to which the action proposals are defined as being public or governental concerns as opposed to private atters is very iportant. Of course, a proble ay be defined as being both a public and a private issue. The extent to which a proposal is defined as solely a public or private concern, however, is ost critical. Questions concerning legality, tactics, strategies, etc. are involved. Furtherore, this diension is also an indicator of the probability of successful ipleentation. For exaple, if social power in the local counity is inordinately controlled by the econ- oic and industrial institutions, those probles that are viewed as public or governental issues are not as likely to be successfully solved as those defined as econoic or industrial atters. By holding subordinate social power and thereby lacking certain vital power relevant resources, the "public sector" is at a definite disadvantage in attepting to undertake aeliorative ac t ion. Another crucial diension concerns the perceived relevance of local organizations. Organizations within the counity control vital proble- solving huan and aterial resources. Certain action proposals ay be per- ceived as requiring the involveent of local organizations; others ay not. Due to the inclusion of vital resources into the proble-solving process, the forer proposals are ore likely to result in successful ipleentation than are the latter. In addition, which specific organizations are viewed as being involved is also iportant. Organizations, like individuals, differ in their control of power relevant resources. When the ore "powerful" organizations are not defined as being relevant to an action proposal, the -12-
possibility of successful ipleentation is lessened. The degree of external, non-local involveent in the action proposal refers to the perceived extent to which the local counity requires outside help to solve the proble. This diension is an indicator of both the coplexity of the issue and the proble-solving ability of the local counity. If outside help ust be sought, iediate and successful action is probleatic. The concept of "blockage" refers to the extent to which the power actors perceive that individuals and groups within the counity ay stall or defeat the aeliora- tive action. If the proposal has a high probability of being "blocked" by those in the counity, not only is its probability of success lessened, but there ay be a tendency to not undertake the proposal at all. Finally, the level of inactivity refers to the degree to which the power actors (1) propose no action to solve a proble, or (2) define that no action has been ur,dertaken to solve a proble. This diension ay be considered as an indicator of the likelihood of successfully ipleenting any proposal. The proposed solutions to water related probles and other general counity probles will be copared on these diensions shortly. At this tie let us siply note that these diensions are iportant because of their relationship to the probability of successful ipleentation. Furtherore, the previously entioned counity proble diensions would appear to affect these patterns of counity action. D. Disaster Culture In this study we will specifically consider the effect of a disaster culture within a counity upon the counity leadership pool's perception and definition of flooding probles. The concept of disaster culture'refers to the actual or potential adjustents, be they social, psychological, or -13-
physical, which are used by the residents of disaster-prone areas in their effort to cope with disasters which have struck or which tradition indicates ay strike in the future.12 The concept has norative and technological eleents. Such adjustents range fro the building of physical safeguards such as levees to the belief that certain areas are iune to particular kinds of danger and to the cultivation of certain types of attitudes of ''defiance of nature" and "counity self-sufficiency" in the face of such stress. Disaster, in certain counities, ay be expected, and its response institu- tionalized within the local syste. Soe counities have even been known to ''love'' their disasters, viewing such events as floods as siply nuisances, or possibly even looking forward to the flood period as a tie of "carnival." The existence of a disaster culture in a cornunity would appear to affect its perception and reaction to such long-ter stress agents as flood- ing. Such attitudes ay ilitate against ore rational planning for flood control and ay iniize the counity's awareness of the need for concern and planning for other probles. The developent of a disaster culture, however, is unique and seeingly occurs only in situations with recurrent and obvious collective stress. One counity ay be unaware of objective indications of serious probles such as depletion and pollution. Another ay be involved in active planning by a "few concerned" citizens. Another ay be involved in planning which has the interest and support of a broad segent of the population of the counity. Finally, another ay have developed a disaster culture. The effect of such a culture upon the counity leadership pools' perception and definition of water related probles and their proposals for aeliorative action will be considered shortly. - 14-
Before turning to an analysis of these issues, let us briefly discuss the ethodology utilized in this study. The Methods A. The Selection of the Cities The first task to be undertaken in initiating the research was to select the counities for study. The initial research design called for the selection of five different counities. Three initial criteria were used in selecting the counities for inclusion in the saple -- size, counity auto- noy, and adinistrative iportance. l3 Each of the counities was to be within the 10,000 to 25,000 population range. Each counity was to be relatively autonoous, i.e., not closely linked to a neighboring etropolitan area. Finally, each Counity was to be a county seat. As opposed to these controlled diensions, however, the counities were to vary in ters of the presence or absence of several different fors of collective stress. The five counities, therefore, were to have exhibited the following characteristics: (1) one counity subject to recurrent flooding which has developed a disaster culture over tie, (2) one counity subject to recurrent flooding which has not developed a disaster culture, (3) one counity faced with objective evidence of serious probles of water pollution, (4) one counity faced with objective evidence of water depletion, and (5) one counity with little objective evidence of stress fro flooding, depletion, and/or pollution. The search to locate the above five types of cities was undertaken with the assistance of the water resource center located at the largest university in the state, the state departent of natural resources, and the state water control board. Eventually, four cities were chosen to be studied. -15-
Within the liitations of our saple criteria, no counity with a water depletion proble could be located. The counities chosen are shown in Table 1. 14 Table 1: THE SAMPLED CITIES City Size (1960) Proble Deain Teays ton Lowell Je f f er s on 16, 847 Flooding (Disaster Culture) 11,059 F1 ood ing (Without Disaster Culture) 10, 585 Pollution 12,388 one B. The Developent of a Technique to Identify the Power Actors in the Leadership Pool Having selected the cities to be studied, the next step in the research was to develop a technique to locate the power actors within these counities. Many different techniques have been used in previous studies of counity power.15 The three ost widely used techniques, however, are the positional, the reputational, and the event-analysis or decision-aking approaches. With the positional approach, the researcher selects certain key positions in the counity as being the true locus of social positions. The identified power actors usually include governental officials, political functionaries, school adinistrators, organizational officials, leaders of religious groups, and so forth. With the reputational approach, however, the researcher queries -16-
supposedly knowledgeable ebers of the counity about which individuals and groups in the city hold superordinate social power. The power actors, in effect, are noinated by knowledgeable counity residents. Fro the obtained list of noinations, the researcher selects the group of power actors on the basis of nuber of citations. As opposed to the positional approach, the reputational ethod is able to tap those power actors in the counity who do not hold official office or legitiate positions. Thus, it is able to identify those power actors who work "behind-the-scenes.'' Finally, the issueanalysis or decision-aking approach involves the in-depth analysis of one or ore local issues in order to deterine who actually participated in the process of decision aking. The approach appears to have high validity, however, it is costly in ters of tie and expense. Since no single approach is totally adequate, a hybrid approach, utilizing eleents of each of these approaches, was developed or this study. First a panel of three counity knowledgeables was initially chosen upon the basis of three criteria. First, positions were sought whose incubents, because of their location within the local counity, would be able to identify the power actors in the local syste. Second, these knledgeables preferably would be in positions in which they would regularly interact with these power actors, and, optially, would attept to influence the to institute changes within the counity. Finally, positions were selected whose incubents would have knowledge of water related probles in the counity, and would also be able to identify power actors in all of the institutions of the counity. The panel of knowledgeables included the county extension agent, the president of the chaber of coerce, and the newspaper editor in each of the four counities chosen for the study. These knowledgeables Tn7ere asked to identify -17-
individuals in the cornunity who were influential in "general counity affairs. 'I Furtherore, in an attept to achieve broad counity representation fro this liited nuber of knowledgeables, the respondents were queried as to who was influential in specific institutional areas, such as business and industry, schools, religion, local governent, health and welfare, local organizations and associations, etc. In addition, in an attept to gain inforation on past cornunity issues and to easure the validity of the noinations, these knowledgeables were questioned about previous issues in the local counity. The focus of this inforation was upon (1) who in the counity was involved in the issues, (2) what action was taken, and (3) at what stages in the process of decision-aking were various power actors involved. Finally, a brief history of past cornunity issues and action with a special ephasis upon water related probles such as depletion, pollution, and flooding was obtained. Fro this data the coposition of the local leadership pools was deterined. The actual procedure entailed copiling a list of all those individuals noinated as power actors, and selecting those who were entioned by at least two of the three knowledgeables for inclusion in the leadership pool. In addition, in an attept not to overlook any power actors in the counity, the study was designed so that the reputed power actors were also asked to nae anyone in the cornunity who was influential, but was not included in the ori- ginal list. If certain naes were repeatedly entioned, these actors were also included in the leadership pool and subsequently interviewed. In addition to this reputational approach, two positions were also included in the leadership pool. The ayor and local newspaper editor were autoatically included in the leadership pool because of our initial findings that these positions were iportant in the local syste -- regardless of the abilities of their -18-
encubents. Finally, certain issues in the counity were analyzed in order to (1) obtain an indication of the validity of the technique, and (2) secure inforation about the past activities of the power actors. This approach was ost utilitarian in this research effort. A total of 76 power actors were identified in the four counities: Deain = 21; Jefferson = 20; Lowell = 18; and Teayston = 17. C. Developent and Pretesting of the Research Instruents and the Field Work Two different interview schedules were developed.16 The Knowledgeable Interview Schedule was priarily constructed to identify the power actors in the counity and was adinistered to the panel of counity knowledgeables. The Leadership Pool Interview Schedule was the ajor instruent in the study and was adinistered to the identified power actors. This instruent was constructed to obtain inforation relevant to the structure, distribution, and exercise of power in the counity, the power actors' perceptions and defini- tions of general counity probles and specific water related probles, and the power actors' proposals to solve these probles. Operational indicators for each of the diensions previously presented were developed. Each of these indicators was built into the research instruent. 17 After the instruents were constructed, they were pretested in the city of Maderia (population 16,470). Like our saple cities, it is a county seat, and like Deain and Teayston, does experience recurrent flooding. This pretest was undertaken by a tea of three trained research associates fro the Disaster Research Center. The pre-test was very successful. A pool of twenty- six actors was obtained. The schedules were very utilitarian, and did obtain the needed inforation. Only slight odification and refineent were required in the interview schedules based upon this pre-test. -19-
After this pre-test, field work was begun. First, a field tea was selected and trained. A tea of four core interviewers was selected. Two of these researchers were research associates on the staff of the Disaster Research Center. Another eber of the tea was a graduate student who was hired for the suer field work. The final tea eber was a special student with training in sociology. Field work was organized so that the interviewing within each counity was copleted within a two week period. The initial contact in each counity was ade with the county extension agent. A two-an field teawas dispatched to the counity for a period of two days. This tea interviewed the panel of knowledgeables. Upon returning to the university, the data was analyzed and the list of power actors was copiled. The four-an field tea was then sent to each counity. One and a half to two hour tape recorded interviews were conducted with the power actors. Except in Deain, ost of the inter- viewing was copleted within one week. While in the counity, in addition to conducting the interviews and securing requisite statistical, historical, and structural data, the field tea attepted to "catch the flavor" of the city by initiating conversation with local residents and "taking in the local sights.'i The field work was very successful. The puwer actors were very coop- erative. Of the 75 identified power actors, 97.4 percent were interviewed. One individual in Teayston was out of the country and could not be contacted. One power actor in Jefferson refused to be interviewed. In addition to achieving success with the field interviewing, the field tea was able to secure all of the required statistical, historical, and structural data. The interviews were subsequently transcribed by the staff of the Disaster Research -20-
Center. The inforation obtained fro the interviews was coded and placed on coputer cards. The results of the analysis of this data will now be presented. A Coparison of Water Related Probles and Other General Counity Probles on the Counity Proble Diensions A. The Salience of Water Related Probles to the Power Actors in the Four Counities One of the ajor research questions in this study is to deterine if the power actors in these counities are aware of the existing water related probles in their counities. The issue of salience is extreely iportant. If a proble is not salient to the leadership pool, it is highly unlikely that they will utilize their social power and power relevant resources in order to solve it. To deterine the salience of water related probles, the power actors were asked (1) what they considered to be the two ajor probles in the counity in the past five years, and (2) what they considered to be the ajor current proble in the counity. Each power actor, therefore, cited three probles. As Table 2 illustrates, water probles are not salient to the power actors in these counities. A total of 222 probles were cited by these four leadership pools. Of these probles, only five, or 2.2 percent, were water related probles. Two power actors in Teayston cited flooding as a proble. Likewise, pollution was entioned twice in Lowell. In Deain, a city which undergoes flooding alost annually and experiences serious flood- ing every four years, of 63 cited probles, flooding was entioned only once! Jefferson, our control city, had no water related probles cited. A ore sensitive indicator of the salience of water related probles ay be the percent of the leadership pool which cited these types of probles -21-
Table 2: The Salience of Water Related Probles to the Power Actors in the Four Counities - uber of uber Citing City- Perceived Probles Water Probles Percent Teays ton 48 2 4.2 Lowell 54 2 3.7 Deain 63 Jefferson 57 Aver age 222 1.6 0.0 2.2 at least once. Table 3 presents the percent of each leadership pool which cited water related probles. Once again we ay note that water probles not salient issues in these counities. In Teayston, a counity which experiences recurrent flooding, 87.5 percent of the power actors did not cite flooding as a counity proble. At the tie of the study, the city of Lowell was being sued or polluting the local strea; however, only 11.1 percent of the power actors considered pollution as a salient issue. Only one power actor in Deain was concerned about the counity's flooding proble. In Jefferson, as expected, no power actors cited water related probles. For the three counities which do have water related probles, only 5 of the 55 power actors, or 9.1 percent, cited water related probles as being aior counity probles. These five power actors included the newspaper editor and water superintendent in Teayston, the ayor and president of the CIC in Lowell, and the ayor in Deain. For four of these actors, water probles are directly related to their vested interests. The fifth, the newspaper editor, recently built a new hoe on the bank of a local strea that often -22-
floods. Therefore, although the nuber of actors is sall, there is soe indication that water related probles are only salient to the power actors in the counity if they are related to their vested interests. Table 3: The Percent of the Power Actors in the Four Counities Who Cited Water Related Probles as Iportant Counity Concerns City uber of uber Citing Power Actors Water Probles Percent Te ay s ton Lowe 11 Deain Jefferson Saple 16 18 21 19 74 12.5 11.1 4.6 0.0 6.7 Obviously, these are not salient probles to the counity's leadership. When asked to cite probles, they are not likely to ention the water related probles existent in their counities. What, however, if they are directly quizzed about the existence of water related probles? Will they evidence an awareness of the existence of such probles? In order to easure this awareness, the power actors were asked, "Does your counity have any water related probles?" The results are presented in Table 4. Apparently, the power actors in these four counities are aware of these water related probles; they siply are not, however, sllient issues. In the three counities with water related probles an average of 82.1 percent -23-
Table 4: Responses to the Question "Does Your Counity Have Any Water Related Probles?" City Percent P er c en t Percent Percent "F1 ood s "O" "Floods" "Pollution" and Pollution" Te ays ton 12.5 37.5 12.5 37.5 DeainJt 19.0 52.4 4.7 4.7 Lowe 11** 22.2 0.0 38.8 22.2 Jefferson 63.2 15.7 10.5 10.5 Jt In Deain, 19.0 percent of the power actors cited water supply to a new industrial park as being a water related proble. * In Lowell, 16.7 percent of the power actors cited water supply to a new industrial park as being a water related proble. of the power actors were aware of these probles. In Teayston, the city which experiences recurrent flooding but has not developed a disaster culture, 75 percent of the leadership pool cited flooding as a proble, and one-half of these power actors also noted that the streas were polluted. In the disaster culture counity, however, 57.1 percent considered floods as a counity proble. In Lowell, 61.1 percent of the power actors are aware that the counity has a pollution proble, and 22.2 percent of these noted that the local strea also occasionally floods. These findings, however, ust be considered in light of the findings fro Jefferson. In this city, which objectively has no ajor water probles, 37.8 percent of the power actors cited at least one water related proble in the counity. 18 In su, we ay conclude that water related probles are not salient con- cerns to the power actors in these four counities. They indicate a easure - 24-
of awareness of the existence of these probles in their counities; however, when asked to cite local probles, few water probles are noted. These findings should not be coforting to anyone who is interested in solving pollution and flooding probles in these counities. Such probles siply are not salient concerns to those ebers of the counity who hold superordinate social power and control vital proble-solving resources. At this tie let us turn to a coparison of the power actors' perception and definition of water related probles as opposed to other general counity probles. The water and general probles will be copared on the reaining five counity proble diensions. B. The Perceived Severity of the Probles Do the local pater actors view water related probles as being ore or less severe than other counity probles? This diension of the proble definition is iportant, for it ay deterine hat, when, and if any action is undertaken to solve the proble. We ight assue that those probles which are perceived to be severe will be the ones for which aeliorative action is under taken. In order to deterine the coparative degree of severity for these counities, a list of ten coon probles was developed. The list included the following probles: (1) industrial and econoic developent; (2) housing, building, and urban renewal; (3) race and ethnic relations; (4) educational concerns; (5) health; (6) culture; (7) public iproveents and services; (8) social welfare, crie, and delinquency; (9) water probles; and (10) recruitent of public servants. These probles were selected because they were general, likely or known to be present in the counities, and represented a range of issues of concern to various institutions within the counities. -25-
Each power actor was asked to define whether the specific probles were (1) very serious, (7) fairly serious, or (3) not serious in his counity. Each proble was rated individually. The results of this rating are shown in Table 5. The results of this rating are ost interesting. While the water related probles are not salient to the counity leadership pool, they are viewed as ost being ore serious than the average counity proble. For the saple of four counities, 24.3 percent of the power actors defined water probles as being serious, as copared to only 16.3 percent of the other concerns. Siilarly, 35.1 percent of the leadership pool defined water probles as being not serious, while 47 percent of the power actors defined the other counity issues in a siilar anner. The highest level of severity is found in Deain, the cornunity with a disaster culture. Only 19 percent of the power actors in this city defined flooding and other water related probles as being not serious. The second highest level of severity is found in Teayston, also a flood counity, but without a disaster culture. In Teayston, 31.2 percent of the power actors defined water probles as not being serious. A close exaination of these flood cities, however, reveals a ost interesting pattern. While the overall level of severity in Deain is higher than in Teayston, a higher percentage of the water related probles in Teayston were defined as very serious than in Deain. The effect of the disaster culture upon the power actors' perceptions ay be operative in this case. Deain has coe to expect and partially accept yearly flooding. It has developed elaborate plans and procedures for responding to this flooding. Flooding is basically a "way of life" in the counity. While the power actors do perceive floods as being serious, they are not defined as being very serious, only fairly serious. - 26-
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In Teayston, however, no such plans or procedures have been developed. When the counity experiences flooding it is viewed as a "disaster" by the local citizens. As a result, when the power actors define water probles as being serious, they are likely to view the as very serious. In Lowell, two out of every three power actors viewed water probles as being at least fairly serious. Only 16.6 percent, however, considered the as very serious concerns. Finally, in Jefferson six out of every ten power actors defined water probles as being not serious. In su, water probles are viewed as being serious concerns in these counities, in coparison to other general counity probles. While this finding ay be encouraging to anyone interested in instituting aeliorative action to solve these probles, two points ust be noted. First, the probles are not salient. Though defined as being serious, these probles are siply not "vital issues of concern" to the Local leadership. Second, a sizeable percentage of the leadership pool in each counity does not consider water probles to be serious. Even in Deain, a city with a disaster culture, one out of every five power actors defined flooding as being not serious. Finally, let us note that there is a positive rank order correlation coefficient between the severity of water and general probles for these counities. Those counities which perceived the highest levels of severity inherent in the water probles, i.e. Teayston and Deain, also perceived the highest levels of severity in the general probles. Where water probles are defined as being serious, therefore, so are other probles! If water probles were the only serious issues in the counity, one ight expect aeliorative action to be readily undertaken to solve the. Where other issues are also viewed as being serious, however, such action becoes probleatic. - 28-
C. The Degree of Consensus Concerning the Severity of the Water Related and General Counity Probles We have just noted the degrees of severity inherent in water probles as copared to other counity concerns. An equally iportant diension, however, is the level of agreeent of consensus illustrated in these defini- tions. In soe counities the degree of consensus within the leadership pool ay be high. In others, conflict and disagreeent over the severity of local probles ay be evidenced. In the forer case consensus ay serve to short- cut the process of proble-solving fro perception to ipleentation as conflicts over priorities, resources, and strategies are likely to be lessened. Basically we will be interested in deterining the degree of consenstis evidenced by the leadership pools concerning the severity of water probles as copared to other general counity concerns. To easure this diension the "Index of Consensus" was developed. This index was applied to the power actors' rating of the degree of severity inherent in the local water probles and in the nine other counity issues. This index is basically a easure of dispersion, and has a value ranging fro.ooo to 1.000. If each proble was rated identically by every power actor, there would be coplete agreeent or consensus regarding the severity of the proble, and the value of the index would be 1.000. If the ratings were equally divided between the categories of very serious, fairly serious, and not serious, how- ever, there would be coplete disagreeent, and the value taken by the index would be.ooo. Any value between these extrees can be interpreted as the percent of the axiu possible consensus observed. Thus, a value of.430 represents 43 percent of the axiu possible consensus. The results of this analysis are presented in Table 6. -29-