Blame and Hostility in Disaster

Abstract

Analysis of interviews with persons in disasters reveals that blaming for disasters reveals that blaming for disasters arises out of seeking a satisfactory explanation for something which cannot be accounted for conventionally. Once persons have defined the situation sufficiently to assess reponsibility, blaming occurs when people are convinced that the responsible agents will not of their own volition take action to prevent a recurrence and the agents are perceived as in opposition to basic values.