Some functions of communication in crisis behavior.

Reprinted from Human Organization: Journal of the Society for Applied Anthropology; 1957; (Summer); Vol 16; pp15-19

Reprint

The analysis of communication function is based upon the cybernetics concept of communication. The author considers eight major areas related to disaster communication: 1/Information about a possible future threat, which has not been previously experienced, tends to have relatively low value; 2/ Recognition of the existence of crisis tends to follow an emergent or non-linear pattern; 3/ Information about survival choices is a major determinant of survival behavior; 4/ Compelling pressure to act and a compressed time perspective lead to error; 5/ Sudden crisis creates great disparity between input from the environment and reference input, cutting down output; 6/ The sector of life subject to reference input through institutional channels and sources is radically reduced; 7/ There is great need for assistance in the communication and decision-making process; and 8/ Crisis events need to be interpreted and re-integrated with the actor's value system. The study of crisis behavior is an entre to basic research in value systems and their functions.