Cultural Adaptation Following Hurricane Sandy Cultural Psychology

Cultural Adaptation Following Hurricane Sandy

Cultural Psychology and Adaption During Hurricane Sandy

The objective of this study is to examine Hurricane Sandy and the adaptation of the population through the lens of the psychological cultural adaptation model.

Cultural adaptation holds that evolutionary forces shape "innate genetically determined behaviors." (Boyd and Richerson, 2002) Stated specifically is the following:

"Culture profoundly alters human evolution, but not because culture is learned. Rather, culture entails a novel evolutionary tradeoff. Social learning allows human populations to accumulate reservoirs of adaptive information over many generations, leading to the cumulative cultural evolution of highly adaptive social institutions and technology. Because this process is much faster than genetic evolution, it allows human populations to evolve cultural adaptations to local environments, an ability that was a masterful adaptation to the chaotic, rapidly changing world of the Pleistocene." (Boyd and Richerson, 2002)

Stated is that the idea of cultural adaptation is such that they do not "arise gradually as they do in genetic evolution. New symphonies don't appear bit by bit as a consequence of the differential spread and elaboration of slightly better and better melodies. Rather they emerge from people's minds, and their functional complexity arises from the action of those minds. The same goes for aspects of culture -- art, ritual, and technology…" (Boyd and Richerson, 2002)

I. Cultural Adaptation

Cultural adaptation is examined in the work of Torrance (2002) and specifically that of Bacolor, Philippines following typhoons. The location was devastated with 10,000 people staying 36 hours on rooftops exposed to the elements without food or water. For the determined who resettled this area, houses were adapted by raising them up on stilts. This is just one example of cultural adaptation following a disaster. Houses on the Gulf of Mexico are largely situated on stilts and this is true for many structures on the southern coast of the United States. Cultural adaptation can be seen in the type of clothing worn in a particular region or by the lack of clothing worn in a particular region. Cultural adaptation has many aspects that are instituted by a culture when the need to adapt arises.

II. Cultural Adaptation During Hurricane Sandy

The 'Water Research & News' website reports that following Hurricane Sandy's onslaught in New Jersey decisions are being made in the Jersey shore rebuilding effort to "rebuild our infrastructure in a way that is more adaptive to the way nature is changing around us." According to the Star-Ledger stating additionally that the Jersey shore need to be "…planning for something worse than this. I think this may create a lasting memory that will hopefully have an impact when we think about how to rebuild." (Water Research & News, 2012) It is reported that economic benefits are one reason to build but it is necessary to "build them to be more resistant. We can take this opportunity to build structures in a more adaptive way." (Water Research & News, 2012) Since it is known that the "… existing public infrastructure before the hurricane damage was already detrimental to public welfare, then why we should repair or replace it back to the original form and shape at the same location after it is damaged or washed away?" (Water Research & News, 2012)

III. Cultural Adaptation of Work Methods and Relaxation of Rigidity

It is reported in Time Business and Money that a lesson learned from Hurricane Sandy is one that was needed in today's work environment. Bacevice (2012) states "Resilience was on display in New York City this past week. Subways and commuter trains ground to halt, leaving people with few transportation options throughout the region. Many employees made it to work anyway. A maintenance employee at the New School, where I lecture part-time, amazingly walked from his home in Queens to the West Village campus to help get facilities back online for students." Bacevice states that individuals who are "categorized as 'knowledge workers,' very rarely have a need to be "physically present at any specific workplace." (2012) Bacevice goes on to state as follows:

"Considering how compromised the transit systems and urban infrastructure have been in the metropolitan area recently, I have to wonder whether we could have avoided some of the mess if organizations and employers had adopted flexible work practices that give employees more control around how, where, and when they do their work. If widespread flexible work structures were in place, fewer employees would have felt the need to get to work. By leaving the region's roads, buses, and trains mostly to the workers who truly needed them, it's arguable that the recovery efforts in our community would have been simplified. It's also arguable that people would have been able to get more work done, considering all the time they wouldn't have spent commuting." (Bacevice, 2012)