David Etkin

&

Peter Timmerman

Ethics and Emergency

Management

David Etkin, York University

David Etkin, York University

“What good fortune for governments that the people do not think.” Adolf Hitler

“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” Voltaire

David Etkin, York University

Milgram Experiment, Yale U., 1961

“Ordinary people, simply doing their jobs, and without any

particular hostility on their part, can become agents in a

terrible destructive process. Moreover, even when the

destructive effects of their work become patently clear …

relatively few people have the resources needed to resist

authority.”

David Etkin, York University

…those who were able to resist the authority figure

were able to provide justifications in the form of

moral principles and theory.

Boss, J.A. (2005). Analyzing Moral Issues. McGraw-Hill, NY, NY.

David Etkin, York University

We Live in a World of Bureaucracies

and Authority Figures

John le Carré (perhaps overly harshly) refers to “the

institutionalized functionaries of global disaster, so integrated with

the towering bureaucracy of world aid and so familiar with its

weaknesses that they are actually a part of the problem they think

they’re solving”.

David Etkin, York University

Hurricane Katrina Response

“This official treatment was in sharp contrast to the warm, heart-felt reception given to us by the ordinary Texans. … Throughout, the official relief effort was callous, inept, and racist.”

Larry Bradshaw and Lorrie Slonsky, paramedics http://www.xs4all.nl/~stgvisie/Katrina-Hurricane-New-Orleans-USA.html

David Etkin, York University

Prevalence of Ethics in EM Literature

ethics

human relations

moral

principles

values

David Etkin, York University

Three Journals

Disaster Prevention & Management (1992-2011)

IJEM (2001-2011)

Disasters (1998-2011)

Keyword Frequencies:

oethics (.08%), values (.01%), principles (.18%), human (.06%) and moral (.03%)

David Etkin, York University

Eight Texts

None of these books include the word “principles” or “moral”

in their indices, except for one reference to “moral hazard”.

Perry and Lindell (2007) & Lindell et al. (2007) include

references to “ethics”

contains a brief description of the IAEM code of

professional ethics.

Lindell et al. (2007) refers to values within the context of

conflict, such as between property rights and public safety

Ferrier (2009) includes a reference to “human rights”

David Etkin, York University

Eight texts

Ferrier, N. (2009). Fundamentals of Emergency Management: Preparedness.

Haddow, G.D. and Bullock. J.A. (2003) Introduction to Emergency Management.

Coppola, D.P. (2007). Introduction to International Disaster Management.

Drabek, T.E and Hoetmer, G.J. (1991). Emergency Management: Principles and Practice for Local Government.

Perry and Lindell (2007). Emergency Planning.

Lindell, M.K., Prater, C. and Perry, R.W. (2007). Introduction to Emergency Management.

Alexander, D. (2002). Principles of Emergency Planning and Management.

Posner, R.A. (2004). Catastrophe: Risk and Response.

David Etkin, York University

The International Association of Emergency

Managers has addressed this issue by developing a

code of ethics and professional conduct.

o A worthy effort, but ad hoc and not rooted in

ethical theory

David Etkin, York University

Books that Address Ethics

“Ethical Land Use: Principles of Policy

and Planning” by Beatley (1994)

“Ethics for Disaster” by Zack (2009)

“Disaster Management Ethics”, by

Jenson (1997), UNDP

“Ethical Principles on DRR and People’s

Resilience”, by Prieur (2009)

& assorted articles / papers / web sites

David Etkin, York University

Relevant Ethical Theories

Utilitarianism or consequentialism (greatest good for the greatest number),

Kantian ethics (duties and rights), Virtue ethics, Social contract theory, Environmental ethics.

During crisis, the ground shifts and the clash between ethical systems is more blatant.

Arne Naess

E. Kant

Jeremy

Bentham

John Rawls

Aristotle

David Etkin, York University

“Real and fictional case studies in disasters seem to favor egalitarian or deontological (duty-based) moral principles over those of efficiency or a simple utilitarianism that saves the greatest number.”

“In morally ambiguous extreme cases, we do well to rely on the character or virtues of those in positions to make decisions”

Naomi Zack.

David Etkin, York University

Martin Buber

“I-Thou” or “I-It”

As long as the theory and practice of EM is

overly dominated by relationships with

“things” – be they resources, institutions,

measures of hazard/vulnerability or people -

then it suffers from a disconnect

David Etkin, York University

Ford Pinto:

People as Things

Cost-Benefit Analysis:

Cost of No Recall:

o 180 burn deaths @ $200,000 per death

o 180 burn injuries @ $67,000 per injury

o 2100 burned vehicles @ $700 per vehicle

o Total = $49.5 million

Cost of Recall:

o Sales: 11 million cars & 1.5 million trucks @ $11 per vehicle

o Total = $137 million

David Etkin, York University

On What Basis Should Ethical

Dilemmas be Resolved?

Three types of ethical dilemmas

1. Choices between costs and benefits o Can too much be spent to save a life? (e.g. HUSAR to Haiti)

2. When values conflict o Rights of property ownership vs. the common good (e.g. flood plain use)

3. When moral conflicts occur within a hierarchy of

obligations o Duty to family vs. duty to employer

David Etkin, York University

Ethical Theory in a Shifting Context:

Three Issues to Consider

1. The Morphing of Disasters

2. The Assumption of Return to Normalcy

3. An Environmental Zero-Sum Game

Is the moral landscape that underlies disaster theory

a constant, or does it depend upon the nature of

disaster?

David Etkin, York University

1. The Morphing of Disasters

De Smit, H. (2012). A Significant

Evolution of the Disaster Landscape.

Proceedings of the 2012 Industrial and

Systems Engineering Research

Conference. G. Lim and J.W.

Herrmann, eds

David Etkin, York University

Normal Accident Theory

As disasters morph towards greater complexity and impacts

they will affect more people in surprising, unpredictable

ways.

Are there ethical issues that are of more importance in

quadrant 2 than in the other three quadrants?

David Etkin, York University

Linear systems:

Emphasize risk-based strategies that depend mostly on a

utilitarian ethic and reliance upon experts

Complex systems:

Emphasize social discourse and the precautionary principle

Emphasize Kantian ethics and a diminished role of experts.

Suggests that how ethical theory is applied to disasters will

require a different emphasis than has been historically used.

David Etkin, York University

“What Disaster Response Management Can

Learn From Chaos Theory”, California

Research Bureau

“Management skill may not be the answer to why response

organizations are successful or fail. “

“It may be that sensitivity to initial conditions and

fortunate relationships with other organizations have

more to do with a successful response than disaster

management skill.”

David Etkin, York University

2. The Assumption of Return to

Normalcy

A world that is changing at an unprecedented rate…

What are the implications of a new normal?

Can definitions of emergency be abused so that the

extraordinary becomes the ordinary forever?

What ethical norms or rules are to be applied or foregone

during such situations?

David Etkin, York University

Questions for a New Normal

To what extent can governments and large bureaucracies be

trusted to act as required by social contract theory?

Should there be a shift in the roles of government, the private

sector and citizens, in terms of how disaster risk is managed?

Should different risk management strategies be pursued,

which are rooted in different ethical considerations?

David Etkin, York University

3. An Environmental Zero-Sum Game

Duties people have towards the environment related to

stewardship and overuse

The impact of limits to growth on human society

David Etkin, York University

Mileti (1999) – that “the first guiding principle of sustainability is

that human activities in a particular locale should not reduce the

carrying capacity of the ecosystem for any of its inhabitants”

“…the most probably pathway is through the development of a

global environmental ethic, akin to a religious movement” Nadeau, R.L. (2006). “The Environmental Endgame: Mainstream Economics, Ecological Disaster and

Human Survival”. Rutgers University Press.

David Etkin, York University

David Etkin, York University