Identifying and Explaining the Factors Affecting the Social Participation of the Iranian People in Natural Disasters

Every year, over 200 million people worldwide suffer from life-threatening emergencies and natural disasters. By participating in crisis management, different people and various sectors of the society can reduce the country’s vulnerability to natural disasters. One of the most critical issues in crisis management is the participation of people in all of its processes. This partnership is done by people without the legal requirements and to help themselves and others at risk. An adequate understanding of the critical factors affecting people’s participation in crisis management can result in controlling these factors, giving appropriate direction to the public assistance in the community and making the necessary coordination between governmental and non-governmental resources leading to greater synergy and effectiveness in activities related to the disaster response phase. 

The purpose of this qualitative content analysis was to identify and analyze the factors affecting social participation in natural disasters in Iran. Based on the findings of this study, we identified the social-intellectual authority of the community, the public’s perception of the state, the existence of trustworthy relief organizations, perceived social trust (trust in risk communication), cohesion, solidarity and social relations (social belonging), executive contexts of the community participation in crisis management, subjective perceptions and beliefs of the community members, people’s attitude towards society (fundamental trust) as effective factors in social participation in natural disasters in Iran. 

The findings of this study showed that an increase and improvement in the process of social participation in disasters requires modifying social interactions and relationships, redesigning the structure and functioning of the associated organizations, improving social and psychological behaviors, as well as providing the context. 

These are necessary for the active and efficient participation of individuals and social organizations in case of natural disasters.