Social amplification of risk : an empirical study.

Bibliography: p. 79-81

The "Social amplification of risk" is a theoretical framework that addresses an important deficiency of formal risk assessment methods and procedures. Typically assessments of risk from technological mishaps have been based upon the expected number of people who could be killed or injured or the amount of property that might be damaged. The diverse and consequential impacts that followed in the aftermath of the Three Mile Island accident make it clear that risk assessments that exclude the role of public perceptions of risk will grealtly underestimate the potential costs of certain types of hazards. The accident at Three Mile Island produced no direct fatalities and few, if any, expected deaths due to cancer, yet few other accidents in history have had such costly societal impacts. The experience of amplified impacts argues for the development of broadened theoretical and methodological perspective capable of integrating technical assessment of risk with public perceptions. This report presents the results to date in an ongoing research effort to better understand the complex processes by which adverse events produce impacts. In particular, this research attempts to construct a framework that can account for those events that have produced, or are capable of producing, greater societal impacts than would be forecast by traditional risk assessment methods