A Note on the Protective Function of the Family in Disasters

It has been f'ly suggested in the sociol'al literature that the protective function of the fam has been relinquished & that extended fam ties are very weak in industrialized & urbanized mass societies. To test these propositions, an examination was made of over 50 reports of systematic & sci'ific studies of community disasters in the last decade. It was found that the extended fam is the major source to which disaster victims turn for help, with anywhere from 66 2/3% to 75% of the victims receiving the substantial part of their relief & rehabilitation aid from relatives. Formal welfare agencies as such are the last source from which help is sought & obtained. The smaller the scope of the community disaster, the more probable is the kin group the major source of help. The physical dispersion of kin groups in modern mass societies is actually functional in generally preventing crises from incapacitating simultaneously all members of the same extended fam. Disaster studies lend little support to the general proposition that the extended fam is of minor importance in modern mass societies. The kin group is the preferred, sought after, & major source of short & long run help in time of such crises. AA.