Publisher's Synopsis
This text is a study of the aftermath of disaster, based on four high profile public disasters - the Lockerbie bombing, the Hillsborough stadium football disaster, the Dunblane primary school shootings and the Marchioness sinking. It addresses the important philosophical and policy issues which arise in the aftermath of disasters and other traumatic events.;Based on extended research into the experiences of survivors and the bereaved in the period immediately following a disaster, the text argues that personal experience is largely ignored in the literature on disaster which tends to focus on issues relating to rescue and emergency planning. The literature on post-traumatic stress emphasizes individual pathology, often limiting its analysis to mental "disorders" induced by the impact of disaster.;Drawing on first-hand accounts, the text examines the problems people have experienced following such events, and traces the long-term consequences for the lives and health of the bereaved survivors.;The authors examine how official discourse and agency intervention systematically deny people basic rights and offer guiding principles for a more progressive and sensitive response to the bereaved and survivors. They argue for a positive rights agenda for those suffering in the aftermath of disaster, as well as offering practical policy proposals for the agencies involved.
