ABSTRACT
The impact of social norms has long been highly impactful on disaster resilience as the broader community provides emotional support and physical infrastructure to support recovery. Consequently, it will be the primary
basis of how age, gender, and sexuality roles are shifting and will ultimately need to be measured by the emergency management community. These shifting cultural norms are ultimately not universal as the collection of society in various parts of the world includes ranges of socioeconomic, religious, educational, and geographic characteristics that will create a range of social norms and a different perspective. For example, in many countries like the United States and much of Europe, the cultural norm for the role of women within society has shifted away from solely a maternal homemaker to include significant strides in working and economic equality with men (see Figure 5.2). This contrasts significantly with many developing countries, where the same societal norm remains built around more traditional domestic roles that often coincide with limited education and experiences.
