ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with a review of traditional conceptions of disasters as Acts of God, which are viewed as unforeseeable and therefore beyond human control. It examines the various approaches to the complex task of conceptualising disasters and challenges the notion of disasters being restricted to a particular time or place. The chapter provides three examples of disasters of the 1980s, the King’s Cross fire 1987, the Piper Alpha Oil Rig explosion, 1988 and the 1988 Clapham rail disaster. Traditional conceptions of disasters as Acts of God, which are unforeseeable and cannot be avoided, can influence public attitudes towards victims or claimants or the commitment of the state to legal and public investigations into disasters. The idea of broader contexts of vulnerability is supported by Horlick-Jones, who suggests that, instead of focusing on the final catalyst or initiator of a disaster.
