ABSTRACT
Disasters affect a wide range of units. Individuals experience differential impacts, sometimes influenced by their social characteristics-such as age, gender, race or ethnicity, ability, education level, or economic class-and always influenced by how they are embedded in their physical and cultural landscapes. There are, of course, other units of analysis affected by disaster events, including communities that may or may not be bounded by geography. This chapter, however, takes a close look at households and families as a unit of analysis, and considers the particular ways in which strengthening capacities in households may ultimately reduce vulnerability. Relevant content for our consideration of families and disasters that significantly overlaps with other chapters in this volume (e.g., violence, gender, age, ability) are not treated in depth in this chapter. Rather, readers are encouraged to consult those chapters directly.
