Introduction
Throughout history, there has been instances of natural disasters that have led to wide spread effects across the globe. Most of them have caused a significant shift in the social life of specific or multiple population groups. This paper seeks to identify a global social issue; determine the affected population groups; determine how the social issue/natural disaster has affected global social change; explain if there is any resistance to change; offer details of how various affected social groups have dealt with the issue; and finally identify the sociological theory of social change that best applies to the social issue for future research, and offer an explanation why the theory is appropriate.
Hurricane Katrina and its effects
Hurricane Katrina belonged to the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season (Jamie, 2006). The hurricane has been identified as one of the most expensive natural disasters, causing loss of 1836 lives and damage to property worth about $81 billion as of 2005 (Jamie, 2005).
The Hurricane mainly affected populations in some cities and states located on the South of the United States. The states that were mostly affected include Alabama, Florida, Ohio, Mississippi, Georgia, Louisiana and Kentucky. The most devastating effects of the Hurricane were witnessed in Louisiana and particularly in New Orleans. Several other States, parts of Canada, Mexico and Cuba experienced some effects associated with the Hurricane(Jamie, 2006).
The hurricane led to a global response to try and offer relief assistance to the affected populations, particularly in Louisiana. Hundreds of thousands of people were displaced and therefore could not access basic needs. Severe damage to infrastructure was witnessed in the severely affected areas leading to complete loss of transport and communication(Jamie, 2006).
Most of the affected people were relocated to other areas but there was some resistance with some of the people preferring to stay back and wait for the effects to subside.
The hurricane led to a major shift in the social arrangement of the populations in the worst affected areas. Several measures have been undertaken to try and mitigate effects of future hurricanes. Such measures include: Redesigning of the existing levees, identification of locations for the construction of new levees and creation of inundaction zones(Jamie, 2006). Most of the reconstruction work in the severely affected areas was undertaken by the Corps of Engineers.
Several other disaster preparedness measures have been undertaken by other countries and states to try and avoid the effects should they be faced with a similar situation.
Economic effects were widespread especially in regard to infrastructure damage. This led to a significant loss of jobs in the affected areas.
Functionalism and how it applies to Hurricane Katrina
Functionalism is a sociological theory of change that stipulates the measures required to maintain the stability of a system, either by adaption or restoring a previous state (Turner, 1995). As in the case of Hurricane Katrina, functionalism applies in the quest to restore or mitigate the effects of the Hurricane. In regard to the maintenance of the stability of the system, functionalism can be used to conduct future research on how the effects of such an occurrence will be prevented or reduced to the minimum in the affected areas or elsewhere (Turner, 1995).
Conclusion
This paper sought to identify a social issue (Hurricane Katrina) and its effects on the populations and identify a sociological theory of change that can best apply to that situation. It has been seen that hurricane Katrina caused devastating effects on social life of the people mainly in the southern part of United States. The sociological theory that applies to the situation is functionalism as it explains how system stability and maintenance has been achieved following the hurricane.
References
Jamie, R. (2006). Tropical Cyclone Report: Hurricane Katrina: 23 -30 August 2005. Miami: National Hurricane Center (NHC). Web.
Turner, J. (1995). Macrodynamics: Toward a Theory of the Organization of Human Populations. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press. Web.